In Love, Nothing Else Matters
by Star-Of-Hearts
Summary: Hatred. Pain. Torture. Friendship. Passion. Secrecy. Love. Hermione and Draco were meant to be together. Multiple one-shots of Hermione and Draco, and a love that will never end.
1. Grenade

**A/N: Alright so this is a revision of a scene from Hamlet. We watched this scene in brit lit the other day and it brought tears to my eyes. The guy who plays Hamlet plays lockhart! :) he's such a great actor and does shakespeare justice. :) hope you enjoy the little modern addition i added in! review if you recognize it!**

It was a dark night, and he was tired of running. He didn't want to run anymore. He wanted to stop, and make people listen to him, make people understand that it wasn't him who had done all the things they had said he had done. He knew that one person would understand, one person would believe him. _But will she believe me now? After the way I treated her, the way I talked to her? But I love her! How could she not listen to me! I hope she will listen, I hope she is not like the rest of them and just ignore my pleas and protests._

He knew the forest well, the trees, the creatures. For six years he had wandered this forest late at night when sleep would not come. He knew his way around, and knew which way would lead to his home, to the place he would rather have called home the last few years than anything. After leaving after his sixth year, he was on the run for awhile, but eventually returned to the Manor. But now he was here, he was back where he belonged. He saw the lights on the castle, and saw how there was a small line of lights, heading straight towards him. He hid from their sight as they got very close to him and stopped.

It seemed to be the Headmistress, McGonagall, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, and a few other Gryffindors. They seemed to be burying someone, but who, He had no idea. He watched on, hoping that once they were gone he could find her, apologize and live happily with her.

"What else can we do?" Ron asked quietly. No one answered him, all was silent as they stared at the coffin. He glanced down then looked at McGonagall again. "What else can we do?" He asked again, hoping to get an answer now.

"There is not much else we can do. I'm sorry but shortly before her death, she broke her own wand and renounced her powers. We can not do as much as you want for her. She is no longer a witch, it does not help that her death is... doubtful. I am sorry Mr. Weasley, but this is already more than we would normally do. It is her ties to Harry and yourself that she is getting this much." The Headmistress said.

"Is there any thing else we are allowed to do before leaving her to die among the worms and tree roots?" Ron sounded bitter and seemed to want to leave and never come here again. The man in the shadows watched them as McGonagall explained that a small song could be sung and then they would have to bury her.

"Let violets spring here when nothing else will grow. And may she be the angel that greets you when your time comes McGonagall! Perhaps Hermione will you give you more justice than you give her now!" Ron said forcefully before kissing his best friend good bye.

"What? Hermione?" The man in the shadows whispered to himself as Harry and Ginny pulled Ron out of Hermione's grave.

"No leave me with her! Bury me with her! I want to be with her, while that wicked man she loved ran and hid in cowardice! Let me be here for her when he will not even admit to his dark deeds! " Ron said, acting as if he never wanted to leave, never wanted to be apart from her ever. But the man in the shadows knew that Ron's grief was fake and was belligerent of his harsh words towards him.

"Who are you to show grief when you weren't here for her! You never knew her like I did! You never saw the love in her eyes, nor shared as many moments with her as I have. You have no right to grieve for whom you never loved! I may grieve, I, Draco Malfoy!" Draco stood from his place among the trees and showed himself to the procession.

"GO TO HELL MALFOY!" Ron yelled before pulling Draco into the grave and wrestling him to the ground.

"Get off of me!" Draco yelled, Ron's hands closed tightly around his throat. There was nothing Draco could do. Outside the grave, Harry, Ginny, and McGonagall watched. Harry and Ginny quietly rooted for Ron to win, and kill Draco. However McGonagall and the other Gryffindors finally managed to get Ron off of Draco.

"Let me at him! I will kill him, or kill myself in the process!" Draco growled at Ron trying to break free of those who held him. They seemed to want to let go, sure that Ron would slaughter Draco, however they had no idea what Draco was capable of, and that seemed the reason they held back. They had not seen somone who had fought Draco Malfoy, and lived.

"Why? Why would you kill him?" Ginny asked stepping forward she was curious upon the answer.

"I loved Hermione! Forty thousand adoring fans and Gryffindors could never love her the way I loved her! What would you do for her Weasle? What would you do for her?" Draco shouted at Ron through tears.

"Don't listen, Ron. He's absolutely bonkers." Harry whispered to Ron who seemed quite upset, but not at Malfoy.

"Shut up Harry. Let me hear what he has to say. She was my best friend too!" Ginny said rounding on Harry. Harry shrunk away but said no more. Ginny looked back at Malfoy waiting for his response.

"For the love of God, what would you do for her? Would you catch a grenade for her? Would you put your hand on a flame for her? Would you jump in front of a train for her? Would you do anything for her? Take a bullet straight through the head? I would! Are you just here to whine about how you lost her to me? To show everyone how much you loved her by jumping in her grave? If you wish to buried with her, go right ahead, but I will to. I can rant just as well as you can, and she'll still love me more than she'll ever love you." Draco said stepping back into her grave. He looked down and Ginny saw the love in his eyes. The sorrow he had, and the pain he felt at standing on her grave.

"This is insane. Come on, get out of there, both of you!" Ginny said and pulled the two of them out of there. She laid her hand on Draco's shoulder, keeping it there for a few seconds in a gesture of understanding. There was a lot between them, but Ginny knew what he had done for Hermione, knew how good he had been for her and to her. Ginny owed him something. She gave respect to a man who respected Hermione the way she should be respected.

Draco shot a fleeting glance at Ginny, before leaving. She saw his eyes flick over to the grave, to her body, once more. It was not easy for him to say goodbye and leave her with such company. But Ginny knew what would happen if he stayed. Harry and Ron were whispering madly together. Ginny didn't care what they were saying. She knew Draco would be back once they had left, he was going to give Hermione the proper rites. Even if McGonagall said it was against Wizarding law, he was going to do it, and Ginny would be here when that happened. She had something Draco needed to see. Something he probably never knew.

Ginny walked away, behind Ron and Harry as they conversed some more. She didn't care what they were plotting. Just as long as they didn't know what she was plotting.


	2. Much Ado About Everything

Chapter One

Our story starts at Hogwarts on the lake. With a large group of girls sat gossiping by the shore. A similarly large group of boys watched them from afar making comments and joking around. Hermione sat in the middle of the girls, with her best friend Ginny. They were laughing about something and couldn't stop. "Draco! HAH! I've barely met him but he seems like an egotistical jerk who thinks only of himself. And no doubt a jester at his best friend's expense." Hermione laughed at the thought of Draco. Never having talked with him she had only heard of his wit and humor from other people.

"Hermione! You don't know him! And we always tell you he's so cunning and funny. And Ginny, Blaise looks at you like you're the best thing he's ever seen. Shh! Harry's coming this way with Blaise, Draco, Ron, Seamus and Theo! SHH! They'll hear!" Pansy whispered furiously. They all giggled a little bit as the group of boys made their way over to them. Harry led the way with his best friend Ron behind him.

Ron was sullen and glaring at the girls. He seemed to find no interest in talking with them or even being outside. But it was his duty as best friend to Harry to remain with him at all times. By now they were more like brothers anyway. Over the years Ron and Harry had grown a bit more apart. Ron was followed by Seamus and Theo Nott, while Harry led Draco and Blaise towards the women. While Harry and Ron were still friends, they had become better friends with those who had followed them.

"Ladies, what a fine day! May we sit here and stay a while with you lovely women?" Harry asked, turning on his charm. He had his eye on Ginny, but so did Blaise. Draco looked straight to Hermione.

"You must be Draco. We have met once or twice before, but I believe we have not shared more than a simple greeting here and there." Hermione said staring Draco down. Draco smiled and bowed a little, his eyes never leaving hers.

"And you are Hermione. I've also heard about you from our mutual friends. I've heard how you make friends with contempt and pride yourself on being a prude." Draco jested smiling at Hermione. However she did not find it as funny as Draco thought it was. While all the guys and some of the girls laughed at Hermione's expense she planned the perfect retort.

"At least I do not tramp around following a band of guys everywhere I go and making fun of young women who did nothing to myself just so I can have a laugh. Some would honestly find that a little odd Mr. Malfoy." She said hotly glaring at Draco. Their eyes were connected, and they never stopped looking at each other. They bickered with each other for the next few minutes and while everyone was watching Draco and Hermione, no one saw what passed between Blaise and Ginny. But the bickering continued until Pansy quickly interjected.

"Well how about this. The masquerade is tonight. I suggest we all go get ready before Blaise and Ginny jump each others bones!" Pansy said loudly enough to get everyone's attention. Hermione stopped bickering with Draco long enough to look at her best friend with happiness. She had heard her friend mention how much she liked Blaise. Everyone agreed to Pansy's position as they started moving away. Harry, Draco and Blaise lingered behind to talk a bit.

"So do you truly like Ginny?" Harry asked Blaise sizing him up. He had liked Ginny as well and had wanted to dance with her at tonight's ball. It was being thrown in honor of the war ending. Blaise donned this look that told Harry everything. Blaise had never looked so in love.

"I think I love her Harry. She's absolutely beautiful and I've heard about how intelligent she is and I think she's absolutely perfect." Blaise muttered as if he was uncontrollably in love. Harry laughed and clapped his friend on the back. Draco however felt the need to question his friends affections.

"You like her? But what if she is like her friend and is rude and insatiable? Would you be able to deal with her then? I won't let you fall for someone who is like that Hermione. She holds contempt close to her and is much too proud. What if Ginny is like that? What if Ginny is just merely putting on a show for you so you'll fall for her, marry her then she orders you around like a master would a servant?" Draco asked shaking Blaise's shoulders. He smiled and clapped Draco on the back.

"As long as I am with my beautiful Ginny I will be content. Why is it you don't like Hermione? You're proud and you on many occasions will judge someone much too quickly and hate them before you get a chance to know them. What's wrong with it on her?" Blaise asked taking a good look at his friend.

"She bickers too much. And she fights. I want a woman who will do what I want her to do and listen to me and submit to my authority. Thats what a wife is really like and what a woman should be trained to be like from birth. She was raised much too wild, and I fear, so was Ginny. Before too long you'll be complaining how wild she is and how much you resent her for not respecting you. I know it to be true." Draco said walking away from the two of them. Harry looked at Blaise and laughed.

"Here's what I'll do: seeing as I am in good graces with her best friend, and trust me you want to get on her friend's good side, I will say I am you tonight at the masquerade then win her over as you, and persuade Hermione into liking you and accepting you. I doubt Ginny will object, I've seen the way she looks at you. And before you know it you guys will be together." Harry said to Blaise. Blaise smiled, feeling it was as good a plan as any and nodded. They went their separate ways to get ready for the Masquerade.

*Down in a Boy's Lavatory

Ron stood talking with Seamus, Ron still looking grim and sullen. They had just witnessed the exchange between Blaise and Harry and were discussing it quietly. Theo was walking in as Ron started to make a plan.

"You know, I am starting to feel little affiliation with my friend Harry. And tonight seems to be a good time to create a break between the two of us. I think we shall put doubt into poor Blaise's mind. I do not mind if Harry is with my sister. But Blaise I will not accept. This match must be stopped before it gets too out of hand." Ron said, picking up a mask and looking it over. Theo and Seamus proceeded to put on the masks and cloaks the group of young men had agreed to all wear.

Ron looked at himself and the mirror and laughed. This was going to be a fun game. His sister forbade him to ever have a hand in her love life, but he never listened to her. Why would he? It was also his life, and he could mess with whomever he chose to mess with.

The Ball!

The Great Hall was decorated thoroughly. Everything was gilded in gold and silver and even though it was night, the room was brighter than it had ever been before. The music was loud as everyone danced around with masks covering their face, and hiding their identities. Hermione stepped on to the ball room floor and smiled to Ginny, twirling her around in their beautiful, yet simplistic dresses. Lavender joined them shortly and laughed along with them. This was the most fun they had had in a while.

Suddenly the group of boys arrived at the door, causing everyone to look over as they appeared. On one of their cues, not sure which one, dramatic music started up. One of them asked Lavender to dance, one of them asked for Ginny to dance, and a third asked Hermione. She wasn't weary of who she would be dancing with and gleefully danced with a perfectly normal stranger. A few of them retreated to the refreshments table. Two on one side, and the other on a different side. He seemed to be watching Ginny and her partner dance. They appeared to be having pleasant conversations.

But moving over to Hermione and her partner, which is slightly more interesting. Hermione was having a good time dancing and laughing at other people who were already drunk from too much butter beer. Suddenly a deep voice interrupted her laughter, and asked her a question, "What do you think of Draco?" Hermione nearly keeled over with laughter at this question.

"What do I think of Draco Malfoy? I'll tell you what I think of that man! He is an ignorant man who is a courtly fool and can't think of anything better to do than sit around and laugh at his friends and make plans to woo some poor woman into his bed so he can have a nice lay. Unfortunately the man deems himself nearly royalty and thinks that everyone would just adore talking to him. He's hardly a good conversation even. He just bickers and bickers instead of offering up a bit of conversation. Of course you probably know him better than I do, you being friends or whatever with him." Hermione said finishing up with a small swig of whatever was in her hand. She seemed to be on her way to drunk.

Her partner didn't seem to care about her rant, but behind his mask, Draco was frowning and fuming. _How could she think of me like this? How is it possible that she hates me this much? I know she's arrogant and proud and thinks too much of herself, but she doesn't have to take it out on me!_ Draco thought indignantly. Apparently being called pretty much a slag did not bode well with him, but Hermione hardly seemed to notice his reaction, not that there was a reaction to notice in the first place.

But Draco and Hermione kept dancing, Hermione still completely unaware of who she was dancing with. And was quite happy with not knowing whoever held her so softly, and so kindly while she sloshed around drunk.

Ron however was unconcerned with the behaviors and reactions of Draco and Hermione. He was more concerned with whatever Blaise was doing. He had to throw Blaise's loyalty away from Harry and create a tear in their bond. He sauntered alone up to Blaise, he knew it was Blaise, but he was going to make sure Blaise thought he thought he was Draco.

"This would be Draco correct?" And because Blaise was supposed to be dancing with fair Ginny, Blaise answered in the affirmative. But the moment after he said yes, Harry took off his mask, revealing to Ginny that it was Harry and not Blaise that she had been dancing with.

"It appears Harry has fooled Blaise, huh? Saying that he'll get Blaise into Hermione's and Ginny's good graces, while he's over there, probably asking her to be his right now. I wouldn't put it past him. Harry's always been ambitious. And some times people take his intelligence for credit. But I feel really bad for Blaise. He seemed like he was really into Ginny." Ron said before clapping Blaise on the shoulder and walking away.

Blaise felt like he had been played. He couldn't believe Harry would do a thing like that. He started to walk away, hoping to escape and get back to his dorm before anyone noticed. But the real Draco caught up with him before too long.

"Blaise! Harry has won Ginny in your honor mate! Come on, lets go celebrate!" Draco said trying to drag Blaise over to Ginny and Harry. Blaise shrugged him off and said something about Harry being a prick and taking Ginny for himself. Draco thought this madness and walked off confused. But Hermione was not going to give up as quickly as Draco did. She walked over to Blaise and explained to him that Harry did indeed get into her good graces and that she knew Blaise would be a good match for her best friend.

"Wait, Harry isn't keeping her for himself? I thought for sure he would?" Blaise exclaimed. Hermione shook her head and dragged Blaise over to where Ginny stood waiting for Blaise. She seemed happy to know that he liked her as much as she liked him. He kissed her right then and there, much to the happiness of their friends. Ron watched from afar, scowling that his plan had failed. However he had something better in mind. Something much better in mind. He had noticed how Lavendar had the same fiery red hair as Ginny, and from behind you could not tell one from the other.

Ron looked to Seamus, who was watching Lavendar with an almost animalistic look. He knew that Seamus would try to sleep with Lavendar tonight. But he knew what had to be done. He took Seamus aside and told his plan to Seamus, asking him to hold off for a night or two until the time was perfect.

On the Grounds, The Next Day

Draco was pacing the Grounds, his mind ranting on the happenings of last night. "I don't get it! How can a man laugh at another for falling in love, then make a fool of himself and fall in love! I would never be able to find a woman whom all my love will be wasted on. I need someone's who's virtuous, fair and wise. She must be rich, mild, noble and sensible of course. She should be an excellent musician and her hair whatever God's will be!" He stopped when he saw Harry and Blaise walking his way and hid from them.

What he didn't know is that they saw, him and knew he was there. "So Blaise. You tell me you've talked a million words with Ginny. How about Hermione. What is she like?" Harry asked, he said it loud enough so that Draco could hear every word.

"She is very nice and funny too. She told Ginny in secret when she thought I could not hear, that she was in love with Draco. Its quite odd. I never thought she would ever love someone at all." Blaise said, his smile clear on his face. "However she loves him madly. But do not say anything to her, she'll deny it if you ask. For a moment I thought she was bluffing but Ginny did not seem surprised by it! I think she truly loves him!" Blaise said.

"But Ginny is quite sure that Hermione will never tell anyone else that she loves him. Though she seems tortured by it, she seems adamant on no one knowing. I guess she shall die." Blaise said off handedly. But Draco wished to hear more, so did Harry thank fully.

"Wait, what?" Harry asked quite without tact.

"Hermione will die if Draco does not love her. And she will die if he does. She says it like that daily says Ginny. However I care not, Ginny is mine, and Draco will love whomever he pleases. If he loves at all." Blaise walked away, and Harry followed him. They both knew that Draco had heard them, and this seed of love had been placed on him.

"What is this interesting news? Hermione loves me! This is strange, but I will not brush it off... Here she comes, and I think I see some love among her features." Draco said to himself before coming face to face with Hermione.

"Harry says that he wants a word with you. I hope you can sniff him out." She said before turning away.

"Thank you Hermione." He said aloud to her. She glanced over her shoulder, her expression confused before turning away and returning to the castle. However on her way back she met Ginny and Pansy talking. They did not see hear, but she overheard their conversation.

"What is this about Draco being in love with Hermione? It has to be false. The way they bicker all the time and the way he trash talks her behind her back. It can't be that he loves her." Ginny said outraged at such a thought.

"It's true! I heard him say it himself! He's absolutely taken with her! Of course you can't say anything about this, not even to Blaise! He'd totally kill me if any one else knew. Of course, you can't even tell her! She's so filled with contempt and prides herself on being a virgin and never wanting to be with any guy. So promise you won't tell her! Or Blaise. I know what a tattle mouth you are!" Pansy said, knowing full well Hermione could hear them.

Ginny nodded then suggested they go shopping. She wanted to find something cute to wear on her first date with Blaise.

"What is this odd news I hear? This is why Draco acted so nice to me earlier! He loves me! Oh, goodbye contempt and stupid pride! Love on Draco, oh please love on!" Hermione ran full sprint to the castle, excited for dinner when she would see him again. She had to go clean up. She wanted to look beautiful for him.

Yet there was trouble afoot. Later that night, Draco sat in a corner bemusing to himself on how to ask Hermione out. They had sat at dinner staring at each other and glancing away. He knew that she loved him and he wondered how much he loved her. He wanted to ask her, but he was unsure how. He paid no attention to Harry and Blaise's poking fun at him, and did not listen when Ron came in with news of Ginny.

"I am sorry Harry, and you Blaise. But Ginny is unfaithful. I saw her, in one of the corridors, and I tell you she is unfaithful." Ron said quite nearly out of breath.

"I do not believe you." Blaise said, his face filled with sorrow and horror. Ron led them towards the corridor where he had seen Ginny, and showed to Harry and Blaise.

It was Ginny, fucking some guy. He was shouting her name, 'Ginny! Oh yes Ginny!' The could not see her face, but that hair, who else would have that hair! Blaise looked away promised that the next day on their date he would tell all that she was unfaithful. And Harry promised he would stand by and denounce her as well. The good day ended with a terrible ending. The only that came out of this, was the love Draco had for Hermione. The love that she shared towards him.

**A/N: So this is also something from Shakespeare. However this is more half of a whole play than a scene. This is the beginning of Much Ado About Nothing, with a little Blaise/Ginny action going. :) Hope you enjoy it. It's not half as good as anything else i write. **


	3. Heathrow National

**A/N: I'm in computer class right now and this is what I'm doing with my time. :) hope you enjoy :)  
**

Something was wrong. I knew that much. We always met unfailingly on Friday nights, at the stroke of midnight in a little flat just outside of Heathrow National. We joked that the sound of the airplanes might drown out her screams. But this Friday night, I sat at the apartment, as I always did, and for the first time in three years she didn't show. Sometimes we didn't meet on account of other things. But we would let the other know, ahead of time. But here I sat, but she wasn't here. It was one by the time I left. I was about to Apparate away when I took one last look at the flat, a longing look that left me disappointed and miserable. I had to find out where she was.

I spent the weekend travelling through France and Germany. I needed to get some information and I was sent on a goose chase through the two nations. I was lucky enough to be distracted by my work to think about Friday. But I had to talk with her on Monday about what had happened. I wasn't going to accuse her of anything, I had no right to. We never fully agreed to meet every single Friday. It had just become such routine that it felt like a weekly arrangement.

I owled her when I got in on Monday, asking her to meet me at my office. She arrived a few minutes later, looking very official and busy writing information on a pad of paper. She looked at me after a bit asking me what I needed.

"Muffliato." I muttered to the door and silently she closed all the blinds. "Where were you on Friday?" I asked once all the precautionary wards and charms were set.

"I couldn't leave. He… was already suspicious before, and it didn't help that we got in a fight earlier that day. I told him I needed to go meet someone, and he asked to come with. I couldn't have that, and then he accused to me of being unfaithful, and it got quite ugly. We started screaming at each other, and eventually Damen woke up crying because of how loud we were, and that shut him up. When I finally got Damen back to sleep, he was already passed out in bed. And it was well past 3. I'm so sorry."

"Why don't you leave him? He never seems to trust you, he won't leave you alone you, plus I haven't heard you talk about any redeeming factors. Does he have anything that would make you stay? Other than your son is there any reason for you to stay? There's plenty of evidence to show that he's cheated on you. And nothing ties you to me or the apartment. Why don't you leave him?" I asked her taking a hold of her shoulders, hoping she would see sense.

"What you don't seem to see is that I am. That's who I've had important meetings with every Thursday. My lawyer and a private investigator are working with me so that the divorce will be quick and simple. My son is starting to remember things, and if I move quickly, he won't remember what a terrible father he had at first." She whispered quietly. I knew how much she hated it there. For the past three years she had been talking about leaving and going somewhere where he wouldn't follow her. And now she was finally getting what she wanted.

"Fantastic. I am truly happy for you. Now we must get back to work. You've been in here long enough." I said gathering a bunch of papers from my desk. I shoved them into her hands, luckily they were actually work for her to do. I took the silence charm off the door and shoved her out. "And remember, Mrs. Weasley, not a word to anyone about this new information. We can't have a revolution on our hands." I said acting as if we had been talking about work. She nodded in acknowledgement and walked back to her desk.

Four Months Later

I sat there with my arm around her shoulders, triumphant that she was finally mine. We were completely out in the open, happy and very much in love. It hadn't been long since her divorce, and Ronald had been sent to the cleaners. He had nothing but a little flat just outside of Heathrow National, had to pay alimony and had a crummy dead end job at the ministry. This was the life. I had the woman of my dreams in my arms, my child next to me, and my unborn child still growing. While we were not married, that could soon be remedied.

For three years, we had loved each other without fault. Everything was going fine between us. After a night of accidents, she had ended up pregnant with her son Damen, and claimed to her husband that it was his. When the baby came out with dark brown hair, and brown eyes, like his mother, there was no way for Ron to tell it wasn't his but mine instead. And for the last few years, Damen's hair had been growing lighter, and his smile was now mischievous instead of adorably cute. And now Ron was gone, and I was here at my rightful place as man of this family. She was mine, Damen was mine and that small child growing inside of her belly was also mine. I wasn't possessive. Nope, not me *sarcasm*


	4. Imagining Things

**A/N: Still in computer class. :) This one's a bit more... real life than last one. :) Hope you like these :) **

I watched him all the time. Every time I saw him, my eyes were on him. Or at least I wanted them to be. He was always looking at me when I wanted to be looking at him, always watching me closely as if there was something about me that he couldn't shake off. I silently wished he would look away so I could look at him. But his eyes bores into my head, watching me, judging me, sizing me up to some invisible model or something.

He of course only looked at me with a disapproving look. As if he was disappointed in the way I had turned out, and slightly annoyed at how even though I wasn't like all the popular girls he hung out with and liked, he still liked me well beyond all of them. He knew I knew, I've known for years how he's felt about me, and to be honest I hoped he didn't know how I felt about him.

But this was all speculation. He probably didn't like me at all. Hell, he probably had forgotten of my existence. We went to school together, and we never really talked, glaring at each other in the halls. Why would he remember me, now, years after school had ended? But he does stare at me. Probably trying to figure out why he remembers my face. He's probably trying to figure out why I look so familiar, why something about the way I look and talk and act looks familiar to him. Unfortunately I remember him. I always remember everyone.

I remember the strange things he did, and what he said, and all the horrible things that happened in that school because of him. Throughout all of school there was a few choice words one would use when talking about him. A complete asshole. But somehow through that, I managed to find the humanity in him. I managed to find the side of him that wasn't a total jerk and actually seemed…. Sweet.

But I was imagining things. He didn't like me. He didn't want to be near me. He didn't even know my name. But every night I could imagine him holding me in his arms, I could imagine him whispering to me about things that didn't matter. But here, at work, he was as rude to me as he was to other people. But at home. No! It was just my mind, over working itself like always. I did not spend my nights with this man, he did not love me, and he most certainly did not care about what I did.

I was finished with my work for the day, and it was only noon. Lunch. That's the best way to waste time at work. You could spend hours on lunch and no one will notice where you've gone to. In my department people are constantly running in and out, providing information to other departments and helping on little informational things in other departments. We are generally never in one place for too long. So when you go to lunch and spend hours, everyone thinks you're running between departments. Just like everyone else.

I walked past his office on my way back to lunch. I was going to leave early. I had no reason to muck about and do nothing until I was supposed to leave at 5, and there was no chance that more work would come. I packed my stuff up and walked towards his office. I had to tell him that I was leaving. He was my boss, he had to know. I walked into his office, knocking before I made it all the way in. "I'm leaving early. All my work is done, and there's no more work coming for me." I said uncaring, hoping to come off differently than I felt. I was talking to the man I'd loved for nearly four years. I didn't want to sound as if I was love sick for him. I was going to treat him like I would any other boss. Professionally and politely.

"Alright. Have a nice rest of the day, Miss Granger." He said to me, his eyes never leaving his own work. I nodded and left, and made it down to the Atrium and Apparated out before I let myself swoon at the sound of his voice, the way he said my name. 'Miss Granger'! It was absolutely gorgeous and it made me swoon every single time. His voice just went so smoothly over those g's, and he definitely sounded like no snake I'd heard when he said 'Miss'. I loved his voice. It was deep, and rich, like a large bar of chocolate. Speaking of which. I grabbed a bar of chocolate and ate it while reading Pride and Prejudice. If only Jane had known how many people would be intrigued by her story, and would love everything about it.

I spent the rest of my day reading Pride and Prejudice while eating chocolate bars and ice cream. Luckily my immune system takes care of me and I knew that any weight another girl would have gained, would be gone the moment I woke up. It was interesting how that was generally the case with Wizards. We had a different immune system all together, probably because of the magic in our blood.

It was the middle of the night, and I was doing it again. I was imagining his arms around me and his voice whispering things in my ear. Then there it was, "I love you, Miss Granger." And I knew. He really was there.


	5. Lost Items

**A/N: **I'm back! Kind of. I had a really rough spot there for a while, but now my writing is back on track. :) You should all read my Pirates fanfic its gonna be good Very much inspired by the Pirates 3 soundtrack :) Also if you go to and look up you should read my stuff :) mainly the actual stories like The Journal. Hopefully I'll be adding to that sooner rather than later. Hope you enjoy this! I'll be posting a whole story maybe on this general topic!

**Lost Items**

She had a right to know the truth. How could I hide it from her any longer? I knew she wouldn't talk to me. It would be stupid to think that she would trust me ever again once she found out. But in this situation any other guy would have done the same. Yes, I had to tell her. She'd be heartbroken. She'd probably end up running to Harry and telling him that I'd lied to her, that I'd forced her without her even knowing it into something she didn't want to do. She had said no before, but when the accident happened, I saw a chance. A way for us to be together without all the drama from before. I thought it could be the perfect way for us to have a fresh start. It was a good idea at the time. But now I just felt guilty for it. I could hope, and pray, that she would understand.

I was going to tell her. I had to tell her. I slammed my fist down on my desk and started to get up when I saw her standing at my door way. She looked, defiant. Did she already know? Had Harry accidentally told her something? Had she overheard me or something. "Hello dear. What do you need?" I asked quietly. I loved her and I was the man in this relationship, so why was I acting so guilty?

"We need to talk. Sit." She was so commanding I had to listen to her. For the first time in our marriage, the roles were reversed. Ever since the day we said our vows, I had always been in control, she had always been the obedient loving wife. Things had been perfect. But over the last few months, it was like something changed within her. Then a thought occurred to me. What if she remembered? What if she knew everything and had just been hiding it from me? What was I going to do?

_Flashback_

_I stood beside her bed, holding her hand and willing her to wake up. She'd been unresponsive for nearly a week. The Healers said that there might have been brain damage. I was so scared for her. A Healer walked in, that bloke from school. I wanted to glare at him, but I was too busy staring down at my Hermione to care what he was doing. _

_"Sir, your friend is going to be just fine. You should go home and wait until my signal that she is awake and well." He said looking up at me from her charts._

_"I will not leave her here. Especially not with you here. For all I know you'll corrupt her before you even contact me." I growled at the Healer. He frowned but continued the check up on Hermione. Who was he to tell me to leave? He had no right to decide who could or could not stay with Hermione. When she woke up, she couldn't remember a thing. And I don't mean she didn't remember the last few weeks or months or even years. She didn't remember a single thing. She didn't remember her name, or how old she was. Or even who I was. She had no memory of any of it. For weeks we worked on getting her memory back. We worked on remembering things like her birthday and her name and my name. Eventually she remembered what I told her. And she listened to everything I said. After the amount of time we spent together, who wouldn't have told the lies I had told? _

_I had told her that we had been engaged for a few months before the accident. She believed me and married me without question. No one else knew that I had told a lie. They knew that she had denied me when I first asked her, but they never knew of a second time. So they could not deny that I had asked her. It was a perfect lie. But I was guilty of lying to my wife. And I had to right this wrong._

"I'm leaving you." Those were the words tore apart my world. For a moment I thought I had said them, that they were my words. But no, they were hers. She had said it, of her own free will. She hadn't even heard me yet, though! Could she possibly read minds? Was she a practiced Legilimens?

"What?" It was the only thing I was thinking. It was the only thing I could think of.

"I'm leaving you. I'm truly sorry, but I don't love you. I don't believe I ever truly have. I said I did, only because you said I used to. But I'm in love with someone else. I haven't cheated on you, but I do not want to be with you anymore. It has to be this way. I'll move out tonight and we'll discuss legal matters at a later date. But for now I am separating this marriage." And with a flick of her wand, our marriage was dissolved. She stood in front of me, her eyes emotionless and cold.

"What?"

"We aren't married any more. I don't remember anything from before the accident. Then I wake up and all I know is what you've told me. And what your friends tell me. I don't even know if you're telling the truth. Your friends aren't sure either. It's hard for me to believe that I would say yes to a marriage proposal from a guy like you. You may have been a wonderful guy and a great person, but you aren't what I would look for in a relationship. I don't know, maybe I've changed. But it's time for us to move on and go to our real lives instead of what they were. I'm never going to be that girl from before the accident. She doesn't exist any more. Maybe she never did exist. I don't really care which one it is, all I know is I love someone else. I love him with all my heart. And he loves me, too. I've left you for him." She said. She was turning to walk away from me, away from me forever and I hadn't done anything.

"What?" Why was that the only thing I could say? She didn't stop walking. "Hermione! Wait!" I ran out of the room and almost ran straight into her. "Hermione, I lied to you." She turned around and looked at me, her eyes confused.

"I told you that we had been engaged before the accident. We weren't. I loved you so much that I thought if you thought you loved me that much too you really would love me. I had asked you to marry me, and you had said no. When the accident happened and you couldn't remember anything, I knew it was my chance to have you as mine forever. Truth is, you never loved me. But please tell me who it is you're leaving me for?" I said, my eyes never meeting hers. It was silent for awhile, when I looked up, she was gone. She had left without another word. Had she heard my confession.

I started walking towards my study, when I saw a note on the door frame.

_I hate it when people lie to me. I will never forgive you. And if you must know. The man I've left you for is my Healer from the accident. _

I looked at her note, and I could feel things slipping away. She had left me for him? Of all the people, him? But could I blame her. I could see how much they liked each other, in school, at charity events. It was obvious he was the better choice than me. How sad is it that I could see that?

**A/N: **Who is who? Review with your opinions! Favorite if you want a sequel!_  
_


	6. Mine Forever

**A/N: Thank you to a story, but I finally figured out how to get past the gliche! Not sure which story! But yay! Alright so this is a sequel to Grenade. I like it. Hope you do too!**

**Mine Forever**

Ginny had a plan. It was a deceitful and very devious plan. And of course she had to make sure that this went very carefully. If either Ron or Harry found out, things would go to hell in a hand basket. She was almost positive that this could work. As long as everything went smoothly. And that was the hardest part. But it was gonna work, she would make it work. Ginny sat down at her desk, determined to make things right. The first letter went to Draco, she had to meet with him and he had to go alone. The next went to Ron, asking him to take Harry on a hunting trip. She wanted them as far away from the castle as possible so that she could succeed with their plan. She was sure that Ron wouldn't object.

Her next letter went to a secret friend of hers. She wanted this friend to understand all her plans. This friend was key in her plans. Ginny quickly sent the letters to their respective recipients, and began to plan, in detail, how this would go. She got her first reply from Ron. He had agreed to take Harry on a hunting trip so that their depressions may subside. They were to leave at first light tomorrow morning. Moments later another reply came, this one from Draco agreeing to meet with her upon her request. Then he apologized for his actions last night. Ginny was quite proud to call this man her best friends lover.

She sent him a time and a place to meet her, then waited for a reply from her other friend. It wasn't long before they answered. Everything was coming together so perfectly. All she had to do now was wait, wait until the moment would come for her to reveal everything.

* * *

Draco looked out his window. He could see the darkness of the night, the stars, the moon, and the first rays of the new day. He started to gather himself, prepare himself for whatever Ginevra had to say. He admitted that he did not wish to talk with her, but she said she knew things, that she had something Hermione wanted him to have. Draco heard in the distance the sound of horns and hooves. Harry was leaving on a hunting trip with Ron. Everyone always made such a big deal about those two. They were constantly treated like Kings, above everyone else.

Draco looked out over the Castle grounds, and saw Ron wave dramatically at the onlookers. He seriously looked like he was enjoying himself. Draco rolled his eyes, privately hoping the buffoon would run into a tree and do the world a favor by dying. He turned away and started towards the door, when his friend Blaise stopped him.

"Draco, do you really trust Ginny? Don't you think she might have some plan against you?" Blaise said in a hushed tone. He knew that the castle had its own set of ears and eyes to worry about, not to mention whatever Ginny had. Draco looked his friend in the eye, recognizing concern and worry.

"Blaise, her guard dogs have left for a hunting trip, she has also asked me to meet her in a private place, alone. I doubt that anything bad will happen. If it does I will deal with it. If I am to die today, then so be it. I have lived my life the way I wanted to live it, and if its end is near, then I have no regrets to leave with. Death is another adventure, waiting to happen." Draco said, and walked away from his friend, leaving him confused.

Draco had always been afraid of death. Afraid of where it would lead him. But he wasn't afraid any more. He had nothing to fear. His beloved was dead, his father was dead, and eventually he and all his friends would be dead as well. He had nothing to fear, he would join them, and live there as he had lived here.

Draco reached the private place where Ginny had told him to meet her. He heard footsteps behind him and saw Ginny, followed by another.

"Treachery! I should have known you to double cross me Ginevra!" He shouted, he started to pull his wand, but Ginny stepped forward calmly and rested a hand upon his arm. She looked into his dark grey eyes and smiled a comforting smile.

"I promised you there would be no treachery. I did not promise that I would come alone. But we must hurry, we have little time before someone notices I'm gone and starts to look for me." Ginny said as he put his wand away and let his hand by his side. Draco looked at her confused, unsure of what she meant.

"We have a plan. But it needs to go smoothly and perfect or it will not work. Please, Draco. You must listen to us and help us." Ginny said, indicating towards her companion. Draco leaned against the wall beside him, he was still unsure of what they were asking. He indicated such to Ginny who nodded and continued, "I have not been truthful with you Draco. But you need to follow exactly as we say and then we can be truthful. You need to fight Ron. I will put a spell on you that will block any Unforgiveable Curse he gives you. It was made by my companion, and it will only render you unconscious and seeming dead if you get hit by the Killing Curse. You will be almost impervious to the others. Ron will hit you with the Killing Curse we know this for sure, then you will appear dead to the outside world and we will bury your body. However later that night, me and my companion will dig you back up and you may escape freely." Ginny said looking at Draco peacefully. He looked at her as if she was crazy.

"And how do I know that this spell actually exists? For all I know you want to kill me!" Draco said indignantly. He had no problem with dying, but this plan did not feel right to him. There was something they weren't telling him.

"You need to trust us Draco. Please, all will be better." This was the companion speaking. Draco looked over at them, pain and agony written on his face. Her voice sounded a bit too much like Hermione' entire time she had had her head down respectfully looking away from Ginny and Draco. But now her head was up, Draco still couldn't see their face, but he didn't have to. He trusted her, for one reason or another he couldn't explain why, but he trusted her.

"I will trust you. I will not trust her." He said, indicating that Ginny was not who he would trust. The companion made a small nod and said a quick thank you to Draco before resuming her previous position. Ginny turned towards the companion and muttered a few words to her. The companion nodded again and waited for something.

"Draco. I think now is a good time to reveal the truth to you." Ginny said. Draco looked between her and the companion, ready for whatever they had to say.

* * *

Ron returned from his hunting trip happily, they had had a successful trip and now they were going back to their lives at the Castle and on to many happy days. Hermione's death was saddening, but she did kill herself, and Wizarding Law was not something to mess with. But she wasn't born into their ways so you couldn't really expect her to understand their laws.

Ron walked into the Castle and was immediately met by other students, all of which were talking about a duel that was to happen tonight. They were all babbling about it and Ron was curious to know exactly what they meant.

"Alright, you tell me exactly what is going on. A duel? Between who?" Ron asked, feeling quite superior. No one had a duel without either Ron's approval or his involvement.

"Between Draco Malfoy and you! It's set for tonight! On the Quidditch Field!" The kid said excitedly. Ron smiled, his happiness evident.

"Why not in here! The teachers always let us perform our duels in the Great Hall. We'll change it! No reason to fight on the field." Ron said and he started to walk away. But the kid held him back, his face filled with worry and doubt.

"It's a fight to the death, sir. Even the most lenient of teachers will not allow that." The kid said quietly. Ron's grin only got bigger. This was turning out to be a truly perfect day.

"Good. Then a fight to Malfoy's death it shall be." Ron walked away towards the Great Hall to fill up with food before this duel. It was going to be a hard one, harder than any he had fought before, but it would be worth it to finally get revenge for Hermione. It was Malfoy's fault after all that Hermione had killed herself. He wouldn't admit it, but he had driven her to the point of insanity. After filling up and preparing for hours, it was time for the duel. Ron walked down to the Quidditch Pitch, his many fans following him down. Harry was at his side, he was going to be the Judge tonight.

When they got down there, Ron saw Ginny talking with Malfoy, who seemed calm and collected. "GINNY!" Ron yelled, his sister could not be near the enemy. He wouldn't allow it. Ginny looked over her shoulder at Ron, and gave him a dark glare. He didn't care what she thought, he was the good guy in this situation. She eventually made her way over, and stood next to Harry who kept glancing over at her. She smiled at him and whispered something in his ear that made him happy.

"Duelers, get in place." Harry said loudly. Ron and Draco moved into position, their wands at the ready."Duel!" And so it began. Ron and Draco faced each other, both contemplating their next move. There was a moment of silence before all broke loose. Spells and curses and jinxes flew through the air, lighting up the night sky with the bright colors. Ron and Draco moved in a circle never breaking eye contact never looking away. They couldn't give in to the fought for what felt like hours, but was really only a few minutes. Unforgivable curses were said, and all were dodged. Neither seemed to be seriously hitting the other. They were just throwing curses at each other.

Draco sent a curse towards Ron that would kill him over time, and Ron replied with the Killing Curse, Draco couldn't dodge it and the entire crowd gasped as Draco fell like a rock onto the stage. Harry ran forward before anyone else and confirmed there was no pulse. Ron looked victorious for a few seconds before collapsing. He looked at the crowd, waiting for someone to step forward and heal him.

"Harry." Ron said looking at his best friend. Harry shook his head and walked away. Ginny looked at her brother, and smiled, "Its for the best Ronald. You've gotten a little out of hand." She said before joining her boyfriend away from the stage. He looked at all the people who look away form him. No one wanted to save Ron, no one wanted him around anymore. Ron staggered off the stage, trying to get away from these people. He would find someone who wanted to save him. There had to be someone who wanted to save him. Someone who wanted him around.

"Hermione would have saved me!" He said loudly, hoping that would make people falter in their decision. Ginny's companion stepped forward.

"No, she wouldn't have. You killed her, Ron. Because she left you for Draco. Because you weren't good enough for her. And you killed her for it." The companion stepped forward, leaning over Ron. Ron screamed and tried to get away. But he couldn't, she was there following him.

"It can't be! You're dead, I killed you!" He screamed, no one was around to hear him. And they both knew it. Ron kept trying to get away but he couldn't. He was slowly dying from the curse Draco had given him, and the pain was getting worse and worse. He fell to the ground, his legs unable to move any more.

"I am dead Ron. And so are you!" The companion turned and walked away, leaving Ron to die alone and miserable.

* * *

Draco awoke to a girl humming. It was a beautiful sound, her voice so light and pure. He tried to lift his head, tried to see who was in his room. Who that beautiful voice belonged to. But he couldn't. The humming stopped, and he heard footsteps come close to him. He couldn't see anything.

"Don't strain yourself too much. Your body is still recovering from the curse. Go back to sleep Draco, you'll wake up again, but you'll be better, stronger. Go back to sleep, my love." Draco's consciousness slipped away from underneath, his mind going dark and blank.

His dreams included a beautiful voice, a disembodied voice that floated around with him, it's sweetness lingering in the air, leaving a scent of raspberries and vanilla. Draco was almost positive it was her. Hermione was there with him. Her scent, her voice, he could even feel her warmth surrounding him. It was her, she was his forever now. He could feel her body over his, her scent floating through his mind, every curve of her body fitting perfectly with him.

He woke up again, and Hermione was in his arms, asleep and perfect. He had Ginny to thank for all of this. Hermione was his and would be forever.


	7. Some Life

**A/N: Ok so it would be really cool to see my review count go up. Please review. I've got a lot of ideas comin' your way and I would really appreciate some love of my own :). Also this chapter may move a little fast but I am really lazy right now and if you want me to redo it, thats fine but tell me! So you must review :) see what I did there? Hahaha, I wrote this while I waited for a program to download and load on my computer. So hopefully you like it. I've got a better one coming and this one will be from Draco's POV. Hope you enjoy this one!**

**Some Life**

Hermione was bored out of her mind. She hated her job, and was so tired of her life. Every morning she would wake up alone, and eat breakfast alone, then go to work and put in 8 hours at a stupid job on things that didn't matter, then go home and pretend like she was happy for her boyfriend and fall asleep with him at her side and wake up alone. She hated this. She didn't even like her boyfriend anymore, and couldn't stand her job. But what was she going to do about it? Take a vacation on her own? _Sounds like an amazing idea._ She thought sarcastically as she copied down some potion ingredients. She needed to change something. She shook the feeling off and continued her work.

She tried to focus, unfortunately the witches on either side of her kept gossiping about the love lives of famous witches and wizards. They had no idea that Hermione was Hermione, but they did gossip about her and Ron Weasley. Hermione smirked. She knew her boyfriend was cheating on her. Even before the gossipers had started talking about the secret relationship of Ron Weasley and Padma Patil. Hermione didn't really care. She was able to ignore the gossiping on most days, but today it was really bad. It wasn't the topic of the gossiping more of the incessant whispering in which the gossiping was being done. Hermione was so close to getting up and spending the next hour in the break room when their supervisor cleared his throat to make an announcement.

"Alright, I know you all have heard of the recent change in office up at the top of the company." Of course everyone knew, the supervisor only talks about it every few seconds. Hermione rolled her eyes. The Malfoy's were taking over yet another industry and gaining an even larger control over the Wizarding World. "How 'bout we give a nice warm welcome to Mr. Malfoy, who has decided to supervise this section for a few months." Hermione closed her eyes. That was it. She needed to get away. Her enemy in school was now her boss, she hated her boyfriend who was cheating on her and her life was a piece of shit that she didn't want to deal with. For the past five years she had been leading this poor excuse for a life, allowing her need for the perfect life to get in the way of what was going to make her happy.

Years ago she had dreamed of marrying Ron, working for the Ministry, and having a normal happy perfect life. But now that life seemed pathetic and boring compared to what she could have done. After the war she had more options than she could process. But she left all those options behind her and moved onto her 'perfect' life. And now here she was, five years later and miserable beyond comparison. She looked up and realized that Mr. Malfoy had been talking and it seemed he was nearing the end of his speech. She listened quietly as he finished his speech and watched him walk into his office, signalling them all to go back to work. She stood up and followed him into his office. She saw the gossiping witches glance at her out of the corners of their eyes before returning to their babble of Merlin knows what.

She knocked on the door and entered without waiting for a reply. Malfoy looked up at her, and smirked after taking a few seconds to realize who she was. He leaned back in his chair, expecting this to be good. He expected reprimand for something he'd said or to be scolded on how this place worked or even to be yelled at for buying out this company. But he would get no such conversation. Hermione looked him dead in the eye and took a deep breath. "I'm quitting. I'm sorry that I will be unable to hand in a resignation and a two weeks notice. However, I feel that my talents and skills would be better put to use cleaning elephant pens at the zoo then this low life job. So sorry that I could not stick around to help make your life even better or to make you even richer. Good day, Mr. Malfoy, and enjoy your new company." Malfoy had not been expecting that, and was left dumbfounded and shocked as he watched the best employee at this new company walk out of office.

Hermione went to her desk, took what little personal effects she had lying about, and walked out of the building. No one noticed her leaving, and no one noticed her silent smile as she left the building and left part of her terrible life behind. She knew that Ron was not expecting her home for a few hours, and if she was correct he was probably in their bedroom making love to Padma. She had no doubt that he would use his time wisely. She smirked as she silently walked into her apartment, realizing that she actually wanted to catch Ron in the act of cheating. It would give her an amazing excuse for leaving and allow her to rebuild her life and have a better one than she was currently having. Though the satisfaction of just leaving him because she wanted to leave would also be an amazing feeling. She pondered whether she would wait until she knew Ron was alone to actually make her presence known. She shrugged it off and decided to get on with it. She just wanted to pack her things and leave.

She walked into the bedroom, half thankful that it was empty. She wouldn't have really cared if she had caught Ron and Padma doing it, she just didn't really want to deal with that drama right now. She quickly packed her belongings, and she tried her hardest to make it look as if she'd never been there. She didn't want to make a huge scene and have a huge fight, Hermione barely wanted to take her stuff with her. But she knew that they would look for her if her stuff was left behind and she had just disappeared. That was how Ron and Harry worked. By 3 O'Clock she was done packing and the apartment looked slightly empty. Hermione took one last look around the apartment before taking her stuff and walking out the door. She had no idea where she was going to go, but decided that she might as well travel the world. _I've heard Italy is lovely and the food is exquisite. I think I'll go there first._ She mused as she walked down the street. She saw a head of bright red hair turn the corner and knew that if she stayed a moment longer, the fight and argument she had been hoping to avoid would be there. She turned on the spot and imagined the Colosseum.

And with a swoosh of her robes she was gone. Hopefully Ron hadn't seen her, and none of the muggles around had noticed the sudden disappearance. Hermione looked around and found herself in beautiful Italy. It was loud and people were always moving and laughing with one another. It was perfect. She looked around, trying to find a hotel that she could stay in until she figured out what she wanted to do. She checked in for the moment at a hotel down the street from the Colosseum, and wandered around a bit, before realizing she should probably send an owl so Ron would stop freaking out about her not being home.

She returned to the hotel, and sat down and started to write a note to Ron. She had no idea what she was going to say to him, but then decided that the truth was the best option as hurtful as it was going to be to him. But at that point she didn't really care. She wanted to figure out the best way to get this note done with and go look at more things in Italy. It was exciting to be somewhere new and not have to worry about work or her life or anything. She could just relax.

_Dear Ronald,_

_I have decided to leave you. I have already moved out if you can't tell and I make no plans in returning to either you or England. Have fun with Padma and I wish the best of luck to you two. _

_Sincerely, Hermione._

It was short, sweet and to the point. Hermione had managed to retain her politeness and at the same time delivered a swift kick to his much used groin. Hermione smirked and tied the letter to her owl and released it into the setting sky. She had heard stories of how amazing Italy was and how fun the parties were at night. She made a quick change to her appearance and applied a bit of make up and left the hotel room to find where the best party was. The Concierge was quite friendly in that aspect. He pointed her in the right direction, telling her the most important people in Italy would be there.

She found the night club easily and started drinking right from the start. She moved over to the dance floor hoping to just have a good time. She loved dancing. She wished to just dance the night away. One song came on and she was lost in the pumping bass and could barely hear the words. But she kept in time with the bass, her mind lost in the alcohol and loud music. A pair of strong hands held her waist and she could feel whoever it was behind her, grinding in rhythm with her. She didn't care who it was, but she needed to get a drink she turned around and looked into the face of her current dance partner.

"Wanna go get a drink?" She asked, looking into his warm eyes. He smiled and nodded and allowed her to lead the way towards the bar. She quickly gave her order and allowed the man to order a drink as well. They drank and drank some more and danced even more. Eventually Hermione invited him back to her room, and he like any normal male being, said yes.

The rest of the night and part of the morning was a dark blur to Hermione. All she knew was that she just had sex with a stranger, really really good sex, and that there was something oddly familiar about him. When she woke up in the morning, it was the first time in years that she woke up with someone next to her. When she looked over, she saw that there lay her ex boss, Draco Malfoy. He was staring at her, his eyes filled with wonder.

"What are you staring at?" She asked groggily, still not really comprehending what she had done.

"I'm staring at the girl I've been in love with for five years. I hope this means you and the ignorant Weasel are done?" He asked, his voice filled with hope. She smiled and laughed. She had definitely done the right thing. This was the start of a brand new life.


	8. After All Is Said and Done

**A/n: Hi! I see lots and lots of people favoriting this and putting me on alert and stuff, but it would be really cool if you could review. I know I talk about it a lot, but it makes me happy to see reviews! Even a smiley face or a thumbs up would work :) Please? At least two reviews?  
**

**After All Is Said and Done**

Three months. She had been my everything, my entire life, the love of my life until three months ago. I was so lucky, so happy where I was, but three months ago she ended it. Because she didn't like me. Because she felt nothing for me. We had spent a year and a half together and now she felt nothing. Now she wanted nothing to do with me. She wanted to just move on in life after we had planned to be together. I had seen her go through guys while we hadn't been dating and I knew that she was going slow right now. I knew I shouldn't be happy. She said she wanted to move far away from here. Get away from this place she had come to call home, but a part of her wanted to stay here forever.

I could see her now. She was happy and laughing and she wasn't with me. For three months I'd been watching her. She'd been happy for those three months, flirting with guys and living the way she always should have been. Why couldn't she have been happy with me? What had I done wrong to make her hate being near me so? I wanted her to be happy but I wasn't sure if I wanted her to be happy without me. Could I take it if she dated another guy? Would I seriously be able to watch her be happy with another guy?

But then it happened. I saw her and him and I knew instantly that she was beyond me. She had moved on while I sat waiting. While I sat watching her slip away from me. How had this happened? When did things get so terrible between us? What happened to cause all of this? I felt hatred towards her for being able to be with someone so soon after we had broken up. I stared at myself in the mirror unsure if I could take it. She had moved on and I sat waiting hoping that someone exactly like her would come along and be with me. But she had moved on to people who weren't anything like me. I guess she really meant it when she said she felt nothing for me.

As I saw her and him walk out hand in hand, I guess something snapped and I had to follow them out, I had to fight for her, I had to have her back. For weeks, I'd been silently along for the ride, watching as she got so many offers from other guys and never once looking back to see if I was doing ok. This was my life she was screwing up too! We had made plans to always be together and I would be damned if those plans wouldn't come true. I followed her out of the castle and watched them go down to the lake. They were holding hands the entire way. I glared and walked faster.

"Wow, this place is so pretty. I love the springtime it makes everything look new." She said softly to him. I couldn't help but agree. They were looking at each other, their arms wrapped in an embrace.

"I know. Hey. Don't worry about Potty and Weasel. Sorry, Potter and Weasley. They'll get over our relationship. If they truly care about you, they will accept it for what it is." He sounded so sure of himself. As if he knew that everything was going to be just fine. How could he assure her of such things? He was lying to her.

"Don't promise things you don't know anything about Malfoy!" I said coming out from behind the bush I had hidden behind. Hermione looked scared as I pointed my wand at Malfoy and Malfoy looked annoyed.

"Hermione, you can't believe this scum can you? I'm sorry for everything I've done. Now please come back to me and stop this stupidity. You belong with me and I understand that you need your moments. Now let's go back to the castle." I said, sure that she was just waiting for me to assert myself. She didn't really feel nothing for me, she was just waiting for me to become her knight in shining armor. But now she looked at me and looked annoyed.

"Ron. I will never go back to you. I don't like you, I feel nothing for you, and you are nothing to me. I am with Draco now and that will not change just because you've finally grown a pair. So please, remove yourself from this scene and allow me to go back to hugging my boyfriend and feeling happy." Hermione said in a dangerous voice. I couldn't believe it. She didn't want to be with me. She really felt nothing. She really had gotten over me. She didn't wait for an answer and turned back to Malfoy.

I didn't move. I couldn't. My mind wasn't comprehending any of the things she had just said. It wouldn't. I looked at her and Malfoy just hugging in the night light. Her back was to me and Malfoy's head was resting on top of hers, an advantage to his height, and his eyes were closed. I raised my wand, and muttered a spell. I don't even know what spell I muttered all I know was now he was lying on his back, Hermione standing at his feet, and he was screaming in agony and bleeding everywhere. I looked at Malfoy then grabbed Hermione's arm and dragged her away from there. I would be damned if my plans didn't come true. This was my life and I wanted it to be a certain way.

I have a feeling I was letting some other part of my brain think because the next thing I knew I was on a broomstick, with Hermione's unconscious body on my lap and I was flying somewhere over water. I decided not to care what was going on and just trust the part of my brain that was currently doing the thinking. She seemed so peaceful as she lay on my lap, so beautiful. Even though I couldn't see her face I knew she was beautiful. After what felt like hours, we finally landed and I walked into the nearest town and used my parents bank account to buy house. I knew this would probably clean them out completely but I didn't care. I also knew that they would be unable to track where the money had been used. That was one aspect of life that Muggles were better than us in. They could track people better. But we weren't Muggles. Not yet anyway.

I knew people would be looking for us, so I put up the best charms around the house and the best protection. I didn't want anyone to take my Hermione away from me. She was mine, my little angel, my love, and she would never leave me again. I wandered around the house and thought about what to do. The best option was to become Muggles and leave the world of magic. I had learned a lot from my dad, Harry and Hermione. I had almost no doubt that I could make this work.

It took me a few weeks to set up all the things necessary. I got a job and worked everyday. Hermione also got a job, and we earned a pretty good living. Between the two of us, in a matter of time we were doing pretty well. It had been only a few months since we had left Hogwarts. And Hermione was mine. There was no doubt about that. The little baby growing in her stomach was proof of that. And she would tell you herself how much she loved me. A few memory charms made sure of that.

Life was perfect. And nothing could take that away from me. Nothing was ever going to take this away from me.

* * *

We were happy. We had two beautiful twin girls. Though I'm pretty sure they got all their looks from their mother, they looked nothing like me. It had been four years since we had left Hogwarts, and things were perfect. I had my own little shop in the town we had first come to, and Hermione worked at the little bakery down the street from me. She was never too far away from me. I was always right there to protect her from whatever would come our way. No one had managed to find us. No one had come looking for us. I guess most people didn't care. Things were good.

It was late one night, when a knock on our door interrupted our nice family meal. I was weary, the townspeople never bothered us at night, because of our babies. They knew how little sleep we got if ever. I opened the door to find a young man with dark messy hair and glasses. He looked vaguely familiar and there was something about him that made me trust him. His eyes narrowed at me.

"Ronald Weasley?" He asked me. I shook my head. That had not been my name in four years. We had changed our names of course for protection.

"No, sorry, my name is Justin Everett." I knew that he would not recognize me. He probably had only seen pictures of Ronald Weasley.

The man sighed and stuck out a stick and waved it over me. I knew it was a wand, but I had to look as confused as possible, if I seemed too calm then they would know that I knew something. The end of the tip glowed a bright red. And from experience I know that something glowing bright red is never good. Ever.

"Justin Everett was your name previously Ronald Weasley?" I couldn't do anything about that question. I couldn't lie because somehow I knew this guy was an Auror or some Ministry official and I would be worse off if I lied and got caught.

"Yes, it was." I said sighing. Then one of my little girls walked up and asked what was going on. She looked up at the Ministry official with those bright eyes of hers. I always say they're light blue, but Herm, sorry Serena, insists that they're silver. But there was no reason for them to be silver neither me nor Hermione had silver eyes. So they were blue, like mine. Her flaming red hair was on its way, but right now it was just a light blonde.

"'Scuse me honey, but I need to talk to your father alone outside. Is that alright with you?" The young man said to my little girl. She nodded and went back inside, and I followed this man outside closing the door behind us. When I got outside I noticed more officials.

"Ronald Weasley, you are under arrest. You will be tried in the Wizengamot court in four months. Your charges are kidnap, attempted murder, unnecessary memory tampering, and robbery. it would be wise for you to be quiet until you have representation. Hermione will be transferred to St. Mungo's to reverse whatever damage you have done. While the little girls will be sent to a family member." The man said while binding my hands together.

"Send them to my sister Ginny." I said knowing she would care for them. But I heard the men behind me chuckle. What was so funny about what I had said? Did they know Ginny or something? What had happened to my only sister in those four years?

"They are not your children, Ron. They will be sent to the Granger's or their father, Draco Malfoy." My whole world collapsed. They weren't my little girls? They weren't the wonderful combination of me and Hermione, the proof of our undying love for each other? Sure that undying love may not have been reciprocated if she had been in a right state of mind, however it was still love, somewhat. No, they were the devilish spawn of that Death Eater, of that horrible cockroach, that snivelling little ferret! I was outraged, I fought against the restraints, I wanted to go back to Hermione, back to my little girls who I could see watching me through the window calmly. They weren't crying, they didn't even look confused. I knew that they wouldn't remember this day, they wouldn't remember my face even. They were much too young.

But I wanted to fight back. I wanted my perfect life back.

"Let go of me! This is my life! You can't destroy it like this! You can't take me away from my perfect life!" I screamed trying to get away from the Aurors.

"It's not perfect Ron. You are deranged. You've become insane. Hermione never loved you. Those girls were never yours, and neither was she. You stole this life from some poor bloke. You stole money from your parents, from your sister. Your parents died of starvation cause they were too proud to ask for help and you took more than they had from Gringotts. Your sister had to drop out of Hogwarts and live in the streets. She would have died too if I hadn't found her one night in the street. You've destroyed your family and their lives! You've ruined Hermione's life! Do you know that she might not be able to recover after this? She might never be able to think straight again. All that intelligence she had, all that potential, is gone because of your selfishness. Draco nearly died that night. If Hagrid hadn't heard him screaming, he might not have survived. He was in St. Mungo's for weeks. He hasn't been the same since you left! He loved Hermione. They knew they were pregnant. That's what they were talking about the night you followed them. Hermione had told Draco and then you come and take her away. He knows he has a child and a beautiful woman somewhere out there but he doesn't know where! Ron, we can't put you back in the life you've led for the past four years because it was all a lie! You need to pay for all the lives you've ruined. And I can promise you, you will _never _get out of Azkaban. I swear in the name of Merlin. You are never getting out."

I could see Hermione watching all of this from the doorway. I wanted to smile at her and tell her everything was going to be ok, to comfort her, but she wasn't even looking towards me. She was looking towards a man standing off to the side. She was smiling and looked happy that this had finally stopped. The last thing I saw before they whisked me away, was the two of them hugging, and kissing. How long had it been since my last memory charm? Too long, I'm guessing.


	9. Tonight

**A/N: Ok. So I have a whole bunch of one shot ideas. And I have this one story I'm writing. It's gonna be a major long one shot and it'll hopefully be finished and will be my graduation present to all of you. I'm graduating at the beginning of June so I have time :) So until then hopefully you all enjoy the very nice stories coming your way. :) I dedicate this one in honor of the American triumph this past weekend. We can all rest a little bit easier now that Bin Laden is gone. :) ENJOY and REVIEW! PLEASE!**

**Tonight**

For years they had been searching for him. Searching for a way to destroy him, searching for where he was so they could destroy him. For years they searched to no avail. But tonight. Oh yes, tonight they had found him. They knew how to destroy him and they would take him down. Tonight. Oh yes, tonight was the night! Hermione geared up, ready to take on all that would come her way. She would fight to the death for her cause. They all would. It was something they had signed up for, and they knew the risks. After tonight, life would improve, the world would begin to regrow and people would start to heal. Finally after nearly 10 years of searching and researching. Tonight was it.

Hermione took one look at the people around her. They were soldiers. They fought for a purpose and understood what awaited them. They were heroes. Without a doubt, they were heroes because they stood for what they believed in. Hermione was proud to be apart of this. She was proud that she had finally found the intelligence that would draw them to him. And she was proud to call herself one of the soldiers. He had killed too many people this time around. He had brought down whole nations with the wave of his wand. He had destroyed their hopes and their sense of security. And he must be brought to an end.

She saw how two suits were untouched, two wands lying discarded on the table. Their absence was duly noted. And before taking off, they would say a silent prayer to them and to Merlin to keep them safe.

Harry and Ron had been killed two years ago, trying to stop an invasion. Many innocent Muggles were saved because of their heroics, but they payed with their lives. Hermione looked at their wands, and was reminded of an image she once saw. American soldiers had been remembered in a similar way. The families would have their boots, their guns, their hats and their dog tags in a sort of statue formation. Hermione noted that their wands lay on the table, in the center with a rose for each. It was an emblem, a reminder of why they were fighting.

Hermione looked around at the people that were to be fighting along side her. Ginny, Neville, Luna, Dean, Seamus, Justin, Cho Chang, Hannah, Padma, Parvati, Lavendar, Fred, George, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Lupin, Tonks, Hagrid, McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, and Pomfrey, were only some of the people who were fighting. The plan was elaborate and consisted of multiple people having to distract while others delved into the main arena.

There were so many fighting. So many people who were tired of being in the back drop of the war. Even a few of the Slytherins were helping. Draco, Pansy, Blaise, Theodore, Astoria, Crabbe and Goyle, they all had switched sides soon after it became apparent that Voldemort wasn't the person they thought he was. They had all tried to bring him down, but every time he got away. Not this time. No, tonight was going to be different. Tonight they would succeed and people would be able to sleep easier.

Hermione lifted her wand and made the lights flicker, to get everyone's attention. She looked around at the people gathered around her. She was their leader, now that Harry and Ron were gone. She was the one they all looked to. This was her responsiblity and her fault if everything failed. But she wouldn't let it fail. Not this time.

"Tonight we will succeed." Was all she had to say. People cheered loudly, obviously agreeing with her. She waved her wand again, getting their attention. "Tonight we fight in honor of those we have lost. The brave souls who paved the road before us and gave their lives to protect others. Tonight we honor our loved ones and all those who we will save by succeeding tonight. Tonight we fight! And tomorrow, will be the beginning of new life. Tonight is our night!" Hermione shouted raising her fist to the air. Everyone followed suit, shouting a familiar military phrase, "HUA!"

All went silent again, and she looked towards the wands laying Wizardless on the table. "Let us bow our heads and pray. Dear Lord, we ask for your mercy. May any death be swift and all victories be just. May our lost souls find refuge in your arms and our enemies be given fair trial. We pray for your guidance and your protection as we journey to the unknown and venture into the pits of hell for the greater good. Deart God, guide and protect us. Amen." Hermione said quietly. Everyone chanted Amen. She reached over and whispered a silent spell to the wands of Harry and Ron, hoping they would give her luck. Everyone followed suit, asking for luck or saying a spell for protection.

She waited until everyone was done before looking back on her troops. "Head out!" She said thrusting her fist again. And with that, everyone was gone, knowing their places in the grand scheme of things.

Hermione Apparated to the place where she was supposed to go, and started fighting like everybody else. Within moment she was inside his hideout. She had no idea who was dead, who was injured, who was still fighting. All she knew was she was doing what she was supposed to be doing. She hoped everyone was doing the same.

She fought and fought her hardest. Dodging, ducking, diving, dipping, and dodging. Throwing spell after spell, curse after curse, rarely using an unforgiveable. She knew that eventually she would have to use them, and that she should start practicing. She didn't want prisoners, she wanted them to pay for all the lives they had ended, all the kids they had killed, all the innocense they had murdered. She threw the Killing Curse at Dolohov and hit him right in the chest. She could kill someone. She had killed someone. She knew she could do it and thats all that mattered to her.

It seemed like an eternity before she stood before the Dark Lord himself, her wand in hand, her eyes fiery and dangerous.

"Hermione Granger. Most famous Mudblood. I see you've found my humble abode. Don't worry in a few moments Death Eaters will surround you, and overtake you. And you'll join Potter and his blood traitor friend in your filthy Heaven." He said in as sweet a voice as possible.

"You mean Death Eaters like this guy?" A voice asked from behind Hermione. It was Malfoy dragging the bodies of Bellatrix and Yaxley behind him. The Dark Lord stood shocked and unable to speak.

"You're done, Voldemort. Finished. Any last words?" Hermione asked before wordlessly executing the Cruciatus on him. He shrieked in pain, his knees buckling. "This is for Harry, and Ron, and my parents!" Hermione screamed and with every name it got worse and worse for Voldemort. He screamed, his eyes blood shot and wide. Hermione then decided to end his misery and shot him with the Killing Curse. In his head.

It was done. It was finally over. All their efforts, all their intelligence had led to that moment, and now it was over. They had won. She dropped her wand and looked at Draco who smiled weakly at her. She smiled back, glad that she could finally relax.

"It's over." Draco said plainly and obviously. Hermione nodded, happy that everything was over. "You know what this means?" He asked walking towards her. She shook her head, but her smile remained. She hoped she knew what it meant.

"We can finally be together without worrying about being caught." Draco said grabbing onto Hermione and holding her around the waist. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her eyes somewhere distant. "Where is your mind, Hermione Granger?" He asked sweetly, staring into her beautiful brown eyes.

"Remember that night at the lake? How the moonlight was perfect, and everyone we cared about was there? The ceremony was absolutely beautiful." She said remembering the secret wedding they had had four years ago. They had hidden their relationship, knowing full well that the Dark Lord would kill Draco and Hermione if he knew.

"Yes. I also remember that I haven't kissed my beautiful wife since that night." Draco said. He leaned and kissed her. Four years of pent up emotions and passion spilled out. All the love they had, all their fears from the past four years, and all their dreams for the future went into that kiss. When they came up for air, Hermione smiled at her husband.

"And I can finally sign my name as Hermione Malfoy, instead of Granger." She said sweetly thinking of the many times she almost signed with her now real last name.

"I love you." Draco said holding his wife.

"I love you, too."


	10. The Pyre

I couldn't watch. I just couldn't. Everything had turned out wrong. Everyone I loved was dead or sentenced to death. The world I knew as my own was crumbling down around me. And I couldn't do anything but stand there. And now, I stood in on top of pyre, as the love of my life was being put on trial. If he didn't give up the location of the Rebellion, I would be sacrificed in the name of the Dark Lord. But if he gave them up, we would be rejected from their ranks and forced to run. They said we would be free to run together. Not free to live together, not free to even live apart. To run. We didn't even have the luxury of being protected because of our cooperation. We would still be hunted.

And if he gave them up, we might even be hunted by the Rebellion as well. I could see him struggling to make a decision. I could feel the heat of the fire on the torch just barely out of reach of the wood and gasoline that surrounded my feet. I could feel the burning glares of those who surrounded his platform, and the disgust by those who surrounded mine. I could hear the words that people screamed at me, the horrible words they said hoping to get a reaction from me. But no matter what they said, I wasn't paying attention. I was watching him. Watching his mouth. I looked into his eyes and for what felt like an eternity we stared at each other. I supported him with every decision he would ever make. I loved him so deeply, I could only hope to communicate the love I felt for him through my eyes.

Suddenly I felt everything go silent. The Guards keeping a watch over me all faced towards the main stage. I gave one last glance at him, and I saw it in his eyes. He was going to give them up. He was going to save my life and give up the Rebellion. I wanted to shake my head and scream at him to not say a word to them, but I knew that no matter what happened, there was a chance I would die either way. I didn't care whether I lived or died, but without the Rebellion there was no hope against the Dark Lord and his men.

Suddenly I saw a man, a man I hoped to never see on that stage. But there he was, standing proud and honest. I knew in that instant, it didn't matter what my love said. We would both be killed. By him.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Hollow. May I introduce the newest member to our... Guard. He who has evaded me for years, he who has defied me since birth, has finally chosen the right side. The former leader of the Rebellion, Harry Potter." I closed my eyes and felt an immense feeling of disgust wash over me.

Harry had never been the Chosen One, he was never the Leader of the Rebellion. He was a great soldier, a phenomenal fighter. He had a good personality and was strong. The stories told that he was among the most loyal of followers. Aye, followers. Harry Potter is and always has been a decoy. While Voldemort was busy running around trying to kill Harry and his small band of followers, me, Neville and a few others ran around searching for ways to destroy the Dark Bastard. When we eventually found a way, we'd manage to nearly complete the task, save a few little details.

Now that he had Harry there was no telling what would happen. Harry could very well just be a spy and just be playing the field a bit more than he normally does. He could also be done with playing the second best game when everyone clearly knew that he was the best. Or at least that's what he generally thought. While both he and Neville had the requirements to be the Chosen One, there could be only one Chosen One. For the longest time we had all assumed Harry and Neville had understood that. They had grown up like brothers, training and fighting and dueling and learning as hard as the other. They both wanted to prove their worth. They knew that who ever wasn't the Chosen One was going to be an exalted Body Guard and decoy for the other.

Since the Battle of Far End, everyone had known that Neville was the Chosen One. It wasn't because Neville was better than Harry, and it wasn't because he had been in the right place at the right time. Neville had been chosen due to the Prophecy and the Oracle as well. Harry was supposed to have understood, but by the way that he had been moping about the past few weeks, it was no secret that maybe he blamed himself for not being better. Maybe if he had been better, trained harder, and took things a bit more seriously he would have been the Chosen One.

But that's what made Harry not the Chosen One. Because Harry thought it was all based on skill and strength, he missed out on the important thing that made Neville stand out and was the number one reason he was the Chosen One and not Harry. Neville had friends and was kind to other people. Sure Harry was nice enough, but when it came to talking about him, he was worse than a Malfoy in some respects. He was arrogant and thought a bit too highly of himself. But he was a very good warrior and fought vigorously for our side. And we really appreciated that. He was good for us, but with him on the other side, all they got was a load of muscle and some information they didn't have.

Nothing that would be important to our missions. Harry had no idea what we had been doing to rid our world of the Dark Lord. While Harry had been running around giving someone for Him to chase, the real Chosen One had been sneaking around the country finding all the necessities to defeat the Dark Lord. Harry hadn't known anything we had done. No one had told him. We had actually even asked if he wanted to know what was going on while he played Hide and Seek. But he scoffed and declined. He didn't want to know the strategy, he just wanted to fight and fight he did. Oh fight he did.

"So tell me Harry, where does the Rebellion hide it's forces?" Here it was. The moment where we found out whether Harry was a traitor or had just been caught and 'defected' so he could report to the Rebellion. I was really hoping he was a spy. If he was a traitor, he would be killed. And I would be the person to kill him. That was my specialty. I was an assassin, a mercenary. Whatever you want to call me. Either way, if he was a traitor, I would get the honor of killing him.

"They are hiding out in East Russia. That's the main headquarters. But they have a small place here in England where a small number meet to discuss strategy. It's just around the corner from here. Right outside the entrance to Diagon Alley." I hung my head, only to put on a show for those around me. So he was a spy. Yes we had a large headquarters somewhere outside of the country, and a small place here in England. But we had moved from the one around the corner months ago. We were way on the East side of the city, nowhere close to here. And we were definitely not in East Russia. Our main headquarters were in Italy.

I vaguely heard the screams of another. It was my love. He was screaming at Harry, putting on a show so that the Dark Lord would believe him enough. And he did. I saw that smug smile I knew was just his as he realized Harry wasn't lying to him. He would realize it sooner or later, and being the good actor Harry was, eventually he would pin everything on us. Unless Harry managed to find a way to get us released before Voldemort found out.

I looked at my love. My husband. I remember our wedding night. The ceremony had been short, and the reception even shorter. While none of the Death Eaters had noticed he was missing at first, he had no plans of returning to them. We were married on a cliff by the sea. We had bound our love together right there. Wizards do not bind their love and lives the way Muggles do. We don't celebrate our unity by consummating. We celebrate it by creating a memorium to our wedding day. To ourselves using our magic as one. It is a combined effort of both parties, and it is always something beautiful.

Ours was a rose, that in direct moonlight glowed brighter than any star. It could not be touched by any one but ourselves, and no Muggle would be able to see it. It's understandable why Voldemort wanted to keep Muggles out of the equation. In my view, it took away from the beauty of the Union Spell. Your new spouse wouldn't be able to see it, their family wouldn't be able to see it, it wouldn't be a creation of the two powers combining. In retrospect, it was understandable, but it was still terrible that he would want to kill every single Muggle and Muggleborn out there.

I looked at my husband, and suddenly saw the fear in his eyes. What had happened that had made him look so dreadful? I looked towards the front stage, and saw Harry arguing with Voldemort, and Guardsmen coming my way. I knew what this meant. I knew why he was looking at me like that.

I had been sentenced to death. I was a Muggleborn what did I expect? I stood there, proud and unwavering. I may be dying but the Rebellion would live on. I looked at my love. He was fighting his binds. He wanted to get to me. He wanted to save my life. But I couldn't let him. I watched as the torches got nearer to the pyre. I knew that within a few moments I would be up in flames. I took small whiff of the flames of the torch and drew back in disgust. It wasn't normal fire. This fire was designed to burn a witch. Regardless of the spell she used to protect herself.

This was it. I watched my husband fighting and Harry arguing. I closed my eyes and reached out with my mind. I felt him. I knew I was in his mind now. If I stayed here as I died, I would remain inside him for as long as he lived. A small piece of me would remain with him forever. And that's what I planned to do. He would want it.

I saw an angelic him and an angelic me. In his mind we were away from all of this. From the war, the tyranny, the binds that kept us imprisoned. We were together in his mind, always and forever. Unwavering love and trust.

"I love you." I said, grasping his hand. A tear ran down his cheek and like an echo, I could hear someone screaming in pain and agony. But it wasn't me. It was him. I held his face, I knew he was watching me die. "Look away love. Look away." I whispered to him. I closed my eyes hoping to reach to his conscious.

I could feel his conscious fluttering. He had heard me, and he closed his eyes, and turned his head away.

"Draco, I love you. No matter what happens I am here with you." I whispered into his ear.

Tears slipped down his face, and his breath shuddered. His shoulders were slumped, and I knew that I was dead. He looked up and saw me, my ghost, the remaining piece of his wife. I saw his eyes light up with happiness when he realized I could remain with him forever now. "I love you too, Hermione."


	11. Why Didn't You?

**A/N: Alright so I really enjoy recreating famous love scenes or even for readjusting scenes from other movies to fit my need. So I shall do it again. Kind of. That last one by the way wasn't in modern times. Think the scene from Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney) where Frollo is trying to get Esmeralda to confess or whatever. Pretty much that scene with a dark ending.  
**

Draco looked down at the creature lying at his feet. He couldn't believe that he had actually done it. The creature was quite subdued, for a moment he thought it might have been dead. But there was the slight shudder of breath every few seconds that made Draco think otherwise. This creature could really get him noticed now. Everything would change because of this. If this worked, he would be the hero of the town. No one else had ever... but that didn't matter. He actually had to kill the thing for it to matter.

He took out his knife and took a deep breath. This was it. This was the start of a new life. He started forward, determined on killing the creature. He breathed in again and got a grip on himself. He was about to strike the creature, cut it's throat open, when it opened its eyes and looked directly at him. Draco froze for a second, scared that it would be able to break through the rope binding it.

Draco just stood there, watching it as it watched him. It made no move to release itself from the bind, but instead watched Draco, it's eyes wide with fear. And Draco saw his own fear illuminated in the eyes of the creature. It was just as scared as him. How could he kill something like this? How could he kill something that could possibly be just as scared and determined to please as him? Draco closed his eyes and knew that he was going to do something stupid. He started forward and started cutting at the ropes that bound the creature. He could feel the eyes of the creature watching him, calculating how to get out of this without hurting itself further or alerting the townspeople to it's presence near the surface of the Earth.

As the rope came lose around it's wings, it tensed them waiting until the right moment to take flight. But a sound was heard from just barely behind Draco. Draco suddenly turned around, nervous that someone would come and try to kill the creature. He hurried, trying to get the beast free before it was too late. Finally the ropes were gone, allowing the creature to fly off into the distance and away from danger.

"Go on! You're free! Get out of here." Draco whispered pushing at the beast. It looked at him for a split second before pinning him to the ground and staring down at him. Draco waited, almost welcoming the fiery death he knew was just another hazard of what he was. But for a few moments nothing happened. then he heard the loud roar of the creature before it took off. He heard a cry as the beast leaped into the sky, and then fell gracelessly down to earth in a canyon not too far west of where Draco now lay on the ground.

He rushed away, hoping not to give the creature another chance to kill him. As he appeared in town, he saw kids his age look at him in disgust as he passed by. Not many people liked him. He wasn't the best at being what they were. He had other abilities, much to everyone's surprise he was actually quite a good aim. Of course no one else knew it, mainly cause no one else believed he could have downed... well never mind. In training his teachers had always said that creatures will take the kill. No matter the circumstances, they will always. ALWAYS. go for the kill.

Draco looked at the town, watched some people repair houses, a few kids training in the streets, and some older adults making new boats. The majority of the town had left for another little mission a few days ago. Including Draco's father. Draco had stayed behind because he wasn't the town's most able anything. Sure he had good aim, and he was good with making a few things like different weapons and such, but he wasn't good at fighting. At all. It was common knowledge that whenever there was an attack on the town by anything, all the hard work the rest of the town had put into defending against the town would be ruined by Draco's attempts. He had been confined years ago to the blacksmith's shop. Making and sharpening weapons. He was relatively good at it.

This place was always so boring. Nothing ever happened here. Maybe something would change. Maybe today's events would change everything. Maybe it wasn't a total mess up at all. Perhaps today was the start of something better.

As Draco passed through the town, he thought back to in the forest, when he had been spared.

_If you guys always go for the kill why didn't you?_

**A/N: Alright. So review with what this scene is an adaptation of. :) The person who does will get kudos in the next chapter :)  
**


	12. Running

**A/N: Alright. So I started this as a redo of an episode of that 70's show. But it turned out much different than I had originally thought. Hope you enjoy it :) someone please review with what you want next! I've got some ideas but not enough to go off of! please someone if you want a sequel or something tell me immediately!  
**

Hermione wanted to cry her eyes out. She couldn't believe that he had done this to her. And the whole school seeing it and all! Hermione was furious with him. How could he have done this to her? She ran along the halls of Hogwarts, her face streaked with tears and her hair a fuzzy mess. She just wanted to run away and get away from this place and this school. Everyone had seen it.

She and Ron had been dating for months. Everyone in the school had even seen Ron ask Hermione to an informal dance last term. For awhile they were happy and had a wonderful relationship. They were nearly perfect for each other. And now this had happened.

A few weeks ago she witnessed something that most definitely would change her life. What Hermione had witnessed was a horrific event. She had never expected to see this, and couldn't believe what she saw. She had been innocently walking through the halls when she heard noises behind a tapestry. She recognized Ron's voice, and wondered what was going on. She was almost ready to tell him that she loved him, and she wanted to be near him right now. But when she pulled back the tapestry to glance inside she saw Ron balls deep in some red headed slut. Hermione didn't stick around to find out anything else.

Hermione ran as fast as she could out of there. She wanted to go to the library but Ron would always look for her in there. So she ran somewhere she knew no one would follow, where no one would find her and tell her that it was just a mistake and that it would be wrong to be mad at Ron.

That had been a few weeks ago. During those few weeks she distanced herself from Ron, and while he seemed disappointed that she would rather go to the library and do homework than be in his presence he was fine with letting her have her freedom. After all, if she was gone he could screw his little slut with no problem.

The more time she spent in the library the happier she seemed to be. Some days she even forgot Ron was a prat and had cheated on her at all. Of course, she didn't care. Because what she was doing in the library seemed so much better than being with Ron. There had been one day a few weeks ago when she had run into the library fuming. She was tired of Ron attempting to hide his cheating and just wanted to get away from him. By the end of the day, she and Malfoy had formed a slight truce in which they pretty much became friends.

Hermione and Malfoy met everyday during their free time in the library and hung out. The best part was, they barely talked except for an opinion on an essay. They did their homework in peace and quiet and then when they were done, they discussed things like Jane Austen and Shakespeare or classical music. Sometimes Draco would introduce to her some new popular Wizarding group he thought she would like. She generally did.

For weeks they just hung out and had a good time. Ron had no idea, and no one in the school really suspected anything. Whenever someone would ask either Draco or Hermione what they had been doing with the other, they would simply reply with, "We're the top students at the school and we thought that maybe doing homework near one another would help improve our grades even more. We get the other's opinion on many things and its a very enlightening time period. Now leave me alone." It was not a well rehearsed thing and Draco always seemed to yell towards the end.

But suddenly after weeks of blissful ignorance and homework doing, Hermione had walked into the Great Hall as Ron kissed his stupid little slut in front of everyone. Hermione felt betrayed and her bliss ended and she ran. Everyone had seen her enter the Great Hall, and they knew that she knew now what had been going on behind her back for weeks.

She knew that if she ever spoke to Harry or Ron again they would tell her some stupid story of how she kissed him and that it was nothing wrong and that Hermione was bonkers for being mad at Ron.

She had no choice but to be mad at Ron. He had betrayed her in every way and now she would never forgive him. She finally stopped running, unsure of where she was, but her legs couldn't take her any farther. Not anymore. She backed herself up against a wall and slid down. She put her head in her hands and cried. After all these years, she thought she was the one that had finally won in the end. But no matter what happened, in the end she was still the same loser she had been for all those years.

It seemed like hours that she spent crying in the deserted corridor in Merlin knows what part of the castle. She figured that where ever she was, eventually she would find her way back to her dormitory. Preferably late at night when no one else was up.

She was crying and thing about things much too hard, because she didn't hear the sound of approaching footsteps. She barely had time to wipe away the tears before someone came round the corner of the corridor she was sitting in. She didn't dare look up to see who it was, but she couldn't tell if they had turned away from her or not. She couldn't hold it in any longer and her shoulders heaved with a choked sob.

As she continued to cry, she realized that whoever it was who had come into the corridor was now quickly walking this way. She didn't want to be seen like this, and tried her hardest to compose herself in a timely manner. For a few moments the person stood above, probably making sure there was no sign of blood on the girl in front of them, and making sure she wasn't hurt.

Whoever it was knelt down beside Hermione and placed a comforting hand on her back. Hermione had no idea who it was but as she felt the warmth of a hand on her back, she felt much better. It was almost as if someone was actually there for her and had her back.

Hermione felt them sit down next to her and vaguely recognized them talking softly in her ear. She continued to cry, softly this time instead of sobbing. And she just barely caught a few bits of what the stranger was saying.

"You're ok. He's a bloody rotten weasel anyway. Everything's gonna be alright." And other soothing words as such. Hermione looked out of the corner of her eye and saw white blonde hair. She suddenly recognized the voice and almost started laughing. The talking for a moment stopped and the warmth of the hand on her back was gone.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting you to comfort me. And you are terribly right. He is a rotten bloody weasel." Hermione said trying to keep her laughter in. She heard a soft chuckle and knew that Malfoy was laughing with her. They started laughing loudly, the past few weeks had been rather silly to be honest. Ron sneaking around with that slut of his, Hermione and Malfoy coming to a slight truce.

As they laughed in the corridor no one came their way. They were so far out of the way, that no one ventured that way. Except for these two.

"I like you Hermione. You're intelligent, you're not afraid of me, you don't care that I was rotten to you when we were younger and you have so many ideas stuffed in that head of yours its incredible that it isn't much too large. I think you are perfect for me. And I hope that you can forgive me for all that happened when we were younger." Draco said rubbing her back some more.

"What is there to forgive Draco? You were young, and vulnerable to your father's stupidity. I just hope you can forgive me for punching you in third year." Hermione said starting to laugh again.

And there the two of them stayed, laughing and joking.


	13. Night Sky

**A/N: Alright so this is a sequel to Why Didn't You? Please review with what you want next! PLEASE! If you have time to favorite and put me on alert reviewing can't be that terrible. Please?**

**Night Sky**

Hermione could feel something was up. She watched Draco become jumpy and very secretive. Something had changed within him, and it wasn't natural. She wasn't sure how she was going to approach this. Was she going to talk to him about it? No, he was always quiet around her and never seemed to get a word out of his mouth. But she didn't blame him, she was known for being quite intimidating. No one had expected her to be the best. But now she was so close to what she had worked for, she deserved to do this. It was her chance to prove herself and that mistake of a human being Draco was going to mess everything up.

Hermione was merely practicing in the forest, throwing axes and knives, dodging what rebounded and climbing the tallest tree, the normal routine. She was just perfecting her axe throw when the subject of her distaste walked past her line of vision. She turned around and saw him freeze and look at her. He smiled and waved then hurried away.

"Draco! Wait!" She screamed than ran after him. She knew her way around these woods better than most anybody. So she dived through a hedge of bushes and then jumped over a small creek and came out in front of Draco's path. Or so she thought she was going to. She saw that a few steps back he had turned off near some boulders. She followed his tracks and entered a little place in front of the canyon.

"Draco!" She called loudly, letting him know she was there and giving him fair enough warning. He turned and looked at her with surprise, and was that fear? Hermione shook it off, how could it have been fear? He had nothing to fear unless he answered her questions.

"Oh hey, Hermione! Yea, you uh... caught me! This is my secret passion making leather outfits." He said holding up quite a bit of leather. "Now that you know my secret, go and tell the whole town. Let everyone know! See ya later Hermione." And with that Draco started pushing her out of the canyon. She moved out of his way, making him fall on his face.

"You are up to something. Making leather outfits? That's not all this is. You're hiding something. I can feel it." Hermione said getting very up close and personal with Draco. Suddenly she was startled by a loud roar come from behind Draco. She looked over his shoulder and saw something dark and very large racing towards them. She knew what that was and shoved Draco out of the way. She grabbed her axe and was about to take aim, when Draco pinned her to the ground.

"Don't hurt him!" Draco shouted, and there it was again, that fear. Hermione now understood everything.

"Don't hurt him? He was coming towards us Draco! It's a dragon! They hate us! They constantly attack us! Our parents are fighting a war against these monsters! A war that is about to become our own! What side are you on, Draco!" Hermione screamed loudly. Draco looked away from her for a second, then when he looked back his face showed no sign of fear or hurt. It looked stubborn. A viking trait they all knew well.

"I chose my own side. I chose not to fight. I don't think this really is a war between us and the dragons. There is something we don't know. Plus, he didn't try to kill me! If dragons are as bad as you say they are, why did he let me live? Explain that to me Hermione!" Draco said loudly. Now it was Hermione's turn to look away. Draco sighed and looked at the dragon standing behind him.

"At least let me show you that he's not bad." Draco said. Hermione looked at him like he was crazy.

"Are you out of your..." She never got to finish that sentence. Draco dragged her onto the dragon, and then they were off. Hermione screamed as they flew through the air, turning and twisting through the air, Draco guiding the dragon, fearlessly and effortlessly. The dragon seemed to be trying to buck Hermione off which made her scream even louder.

"You're not helping! Can you please help me out?" Draco whispered loudly in the dragon's ear. Neither Draco nor Hermione could see it, but the dragon rolled its eyes then calmed the flying down a bit. But Hermione still hated this. She hated flying obviously. Draco looked back at her as they ascended over the clouds, and saw that she was starting to calm down.

Draco had always loved Hermione. She was beautiful and was perfect for him. Though she never noticed him. She was amazing at being the best and he was always down towards the bottom. She didn't even give him a second glance half the time. But now she saw him. Now she could finally see what he was really like while everyone else thought he was a mess up.

Draco watched her as she smiled and looked around at the beautiful scene around her. He knew that the amount of time he wanted to spend with her was never enough. She would never feel the same way towards him. But little did he know that as the two of them flew over the world on a dragon, she was thinking how much she wished he would finally return the feelings she felt for him.

She would always love him.


	14. Making Potions and Other Things

**A/N: Hey readers! So this is something I just came up with on the spot! It's pretty ok. Kinda weird writing in first person i'll admit. I'm not the best at it. But anyway. So i'm almost done with my uber long story and I will release that one as soon as i get home from the HP7 Part2 midnight premiere! Just bought my tickets today. SOOO STOKED! :D Alright hopefully you guys enjoy this and the many more that will come. Please review! I can't be as mean to you guys as I am with my other story. But whatever. If you guys don't get me up to 10 reviews, then I won't post again til the 15th. Maybe later. depends. It's really good.**

**Thank you to all the Favorites and Alerts. Please review :)**

**Making Potions... and Other Things**

Every time I saw her, every time I heard her voice, I just wanted to hold her in my arms. I was in love with this girl, and there was no denying it. I was done. If any one asked me I was gonna tell them the truth, and I didn't care what happened. I really did love this girl.

Every day I walked through the halls, for the longest time I was just going through the motions, waiting for the chance to see her again, or hear her voice in class or her laughter with her friends. But every time I heard her laugh, my heart sank because I wasn't the cause of that laughter or the beautiful smile plastered on her face.

I was heart broken every time I saw her sad or angry, because I couldn't comfort her, or beat up the person who made her angry or sad. I wanted to be the person that would see her cry and hold her in my arms until she was ready to tell me who I needed to beat to a pulp.

But every day I realized that there was no way on Earth that would happen. Every day I realized that she would never be in love with me. Who would love me? Who on this big stupid planet would ever love me? I was a worthless being. In her words, an evil loathsome little cockroach. But I didn't care. I don't know how long I've been in love with her, all I know is I want her and I will not stop until she's mine.

I made this decision during Potions class. Before it had started, I was zoning out and thinking of her. And I decided I would try my hardest until she was mine. Unfortunately, while I was making this decision I had been staring goofily in her direction making her probably hate me even more.

When Snape walked in I could tell he was in a rotten mood. In these kinds of moods he wasn't nice even to Slytherins. And he freaking loved us. He announced that we would be working in pairs and that we would be working on such a hard potion that we would hopefully not talk, at all. He assigned our pairs and when I heard my pairing I almost shouted for joy. I was with Hermione. She groaned and received good lucks from the two buffoons who followed her around.

When she walked over to my seat, I had everything already laid out ready for her to tell me what to do in that amazing voice of hers. She immediately set out what each of us would be doing, which steps and which ingredients we would prepare. She told me the exact plan and I followed and remembered her instructions to the letter. I was determined to impress her.

"So seeing as we have double Potions and we are stuck together for the entirety of it, I'm going to make a truce with you. I will try my hardest to be nice to you if you attempt to be nice towards me." She said, starting the day off. I looked at her and nodded vigorously.

"Well, now that we can talk to each other without venom coming out, how are you?" I asked cordially while getting started. I saw her smirk kindly from the side.

"I am doing just fine, and you? By the way, any idea why Snape is in such a terrible mood?" She asked not looking up from her potion.

"Yea, he's hungover. You can tell by the way he's slumped in his chair and the smell of the drink in his hand." She sniffed the air and held back a laugh and nodded.

"You're right! That's anti Hangover potion. How on Earth did you know so quickly?" She said looking at me. I was overjoyed that we were actually getting along nicely.

"Well, I've seen him hungover quite a few times. He's my godfather, and he spends a bit of time at my house over holidays. He and my parents are really good friends. So I'm pretty good at knowing his emotions and how he's feeling. I can tell when he walks into a room." I said. I was afraid she might be horrified by me, but she actually looked a bit curious.

"Really? I had no idea he was your godfather." She said smiling a bit. For a little bit we worked on our potion in comfortable silence.

"So, I have to ask, because I'm genuinely concerned. Have your parents made you join... the... you know?" She asked. She was very quiet and had completely stopped what she was doing. The only thing I could think to do was lift up the left side of my shirt and show her my blank forearm.

"I have no thoughts of joining. Never have, never will. I don't plan on joining even if that means getting disowned and resorting to selling my family and the rest of the scumbags out to the Order. I don't want anything to do with them, and I will not allow them to mess up my life." I said quietly. She looked at me thoughtfully and I thought I saw respect in her eyes.

"You would seriously do that if it came to that? You would trade secrets and other information with the Order?" Hermione asked even more quietly. I nodded, knowing full well that I really would. I actually was planning on going to Dumbledore soon and declaring this to him myself. I wanted to be safe. I had a bad feeling about the next few months, and I wanted to be sure that I would be safe.

"I can't believe it. I don't think I will until I see it for myself." Hermione said. That's when I saw my opportunity to get close. This could seriously work.

"Will you help me?" I asked, continuing my work as if I hadn't said anything. I saw out of the corner of my eye, her stopping and putting down everything she was doing and staring at me in disbelief.

"I haven't been able to get the courage up to go talk with Dumbledore about any of this. I want to make sure I'm protected before anything can happen. I don't want something to happen over the next holiday we have and be in loads of trouble. Will you come with me sometime to support me and convince me to actually go into Dumbledore's office and talk to him?" I asked her. I was very unsure of myself, but I was really hoping that she was as kind a person as everyone said she was.

"Of course. We should go as soon as possible. After this class." She said definitively. She turned back and started to work on the rest of her work. We had just finished the ingredients and we were about to start putting things in.

"You know, I've been noticing a change in you. I was sure I was just being silly, but now I know it's sure. You have changed. I'm really happy for you." Hermione said. She sincerely looked happy. I was glad that I had managed to do something right, finally.

"I love you." I said quietly. I don't know why I said it, but I did. I just had to let her know that I was in love with her. It was better to have it out in the open.

"What?" She said absently. But I saw her glance nervously over at me.

"Oh, nothing." I said. That had been close. But I saw her smirk and shake her head. She knew perfectly well what I had said.

We finished our potion in record time. We turned it in and then were told to sit quietly in our seats til everyone finished. Though he looked at me as if to say, 'You can talk if you are quiet about it.'

"So, what are you planning on doing after Hogwarts?" I asked her calmly. She looked at me, her eyes filled with many thoughts.

"I'm not sure. I had never really given much thought. I've been thinking about maybe seeing the world, then getting some training as a teacher and teaching something like DADA or Charms. I don't know. I would rather teach than any other job to be honest. What about you?" I was unsure what to answer. I too had given little thought to my career choices after Hogwarts.

"Well, I've been thinking Healer sounded fun. Teaching, now that you mention it, seems like a good career choice. But my first option would most definitely be Healing. It is the job I have always admired since I was younger." As I said the words, a new idea formed in her head.

"You know, that's not a bad option. Hmm... Healing. I'll think about that." I nearly laughed at those words.

"Copy cat." I muttered, loud enough so she could hear of course. She smirked and nudged me slightly with her shoulder.

"So back to what you said earlier. I really did hear it." My heart sunk. I knew she had heard it.

I hung my head in shame, and looked away. How could I look her in the eye now? How could I joke around with things when she knew?

"Don't worry about it Draco. I've known for a bit that you've liked me more than usual."

"What do you mean?"

"I see the way you look at me. You think I don't see, but I do. And don't worry. I've been hiding it very well from Ron and Harry, but I kind of like you too." She said quietly. I was astounded. Did she really? She smiled a beautiful smile, pecked me on the cheek before walking away to Harry and Ron's table. They hadn't noticed anything of course, no one had. They were all focused on the potion.


	15. Say My Name

**Alright. So the inspiration for this chapter came from a one shot I read a few years ago. it was very well done. So i'm just letting you know. **

**Also, a few story requests. **

**1) Please review with ideas. I have many but I want your opinions of what you guys want to read. Sequels to anything. Clarification. Continuation.**

**2) If you could hop on over to my story Game for the Cunning and review it, it would be amazing. We all know that the more reviews it has, the more people are likely to read it.**

**3) I'm a beta for Ink on Paper. Its a really good story :) You should read it. **

**Anyway, on to the story!**

It was late and a small woman walked down a dark alley alone. She kept looking over her shoulder, she kept expecting someone to be there, following her. But she was positive no one was there. She quickly snuck into a shop at the end of the alley. Quickly making a purchase, she escaped from the dark and sketchy alleyway, and back into normal streetlight. And while she was in the public, she kept looking over her shoulder, nervous that someone would be following her.

As she walked something didn't feel right. She could feel the cold eyes following her, analyzing her every move, staying one step ahead of her all the time. She knew who it was, and she needed to get away from there. Now.

As she, turned a corner, she saw someone off in the distance, someone who looked unnaturally suspicious. She had her eyes on him, but wasn't paying attention to what was really important. She looked in front of her just in time to see someone come out of the shadows in front of her. The woman was thankful she had hid what she had bought in her bag. This wasn't going to end well.

The shadowy person in front of her grabbed her and shoved something into her mouth. This was outrageous! Who in their right mind would capture her?

She kicked and screamed. Well as loud as she could anyway. She guessed that it was a sock or something of that nature in her mouth and it muffled her screams unfortunately. A large bag was tossed over her head and she was carried off into the night. In seemed like an hour had passed when she was allowed to see and speak again. She looked at her captor and glared. How could he have done this to her?

"I demand you let me go! Right now!" She yelled to him. He just smirked and shook with laughter. He was laughing at her! After that embarrassing public display the least he could do was look like he was at least sorry for her. At least just a little.

"Miss Granger. Would you please calm down? There is no point in getting frustrated." The captor's voice was smooth, but she wasn't going to let him get under her skin. No she wasn't.

"Unfortunately, kind sir, that is not my name. You have the wrong person!" She said triumphantly.

"Oh really? You're not Miss Hermione Jean Granger?" The captor asked, his voice dripping with mock surprise. She smiled happily and shook her head.

"Nope, not me! You've got the wrong person. Now let me go, or I swear I will sue you for all you are worth!" She said angrily struggling against the binds that held her in.

"Well, unfortunately, Miss Granger, I can't let you go. My policy. And to be honest, I don't care that you're not the Granger girl. But seeing as I don't care, I will be calling you that from now on." The woman wanted to scream out in anger. How could he do this? He had absolutely no right to go around stealing poor defenseless women in the middle of the night and chaining them up! This was an outrage!

She glared at her captor, hating him with every ounce of being she had.

"Now, now Miss Granger, you look angry. Why are you so angry?" He asked her, mocking her with every breath he took.

"Stop calling me that." She said simply, her rage unkempt and unrestrained.

"What? But that would take all the fun out of it. And you wouldn't want to ruin my fun now would you, Miss Granger?"

"Yes, I would want to ruin your fun. And that's not my name."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Well. I don't care if you want to ruin my fun. We're going to have fun anyway. Come now, Miss Granger, you'll enjoy it."

She was about ready to rip the head off of this guy. "That is not my name, you god damn mother fucker!" She screamed finally. She was tired of this.

"Fiesty. Just how I like 'em."

The captor got very up close and personal, his smile mischievous and dashing at the same time. This was infuriating.

"So, Miss Granger, what's in the bag?"

So that's what this was all about. The small trinket she had bought just prior to this.

"Nothing. Just something for a friend of mine." She said, hoping to cover up anything he might catch.

She shouldn't have gone in the first place. She knew it was a bad idea to go get this, yet she went because she wanted to get it for her friend. She would have felt bad if she hadn't gotten it.

"For a friend? What friend?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, Miss Granger, you'll find that it does indeed matter. Now if you'll please answer my original question, what's in the bag?"

"Just a small trinket. Nothing expensive or of any worth."

"Is that so? So you won't mind if I take a look at this trinket?"

"No! Get your hands off my stuff."

"Well then. I'll keep my hands off your stuff. But, Miss Granger, my hands need something to do. What can I do with my hands?"

"You can go fuck yourself for all I care."

"Well, I agree. But I wasn't thinking myself. I was thinking more in the area of you."

"Don't you dare touch me."

"Or what?"

"The moment I get free, I will kill you. With my bare hands."

"Oh really, Miss Granger?"

"Yes, really. And that's not my name."

"I'd like to see you try." And with the flick of her captor's wand, the woman's clothes had vanished.

And for the next hour, he gently tortured her every few minutes asking her what was in the bag. She would always answer with nothing, it was for a friend.

Finally after an hour of torturing, he knew she wasn't going to say anything unless he really did some damage. He hated doing this, but it must be done sometimes.

"I will ask you one more time, Miss Granger. What is in the bag?"

"Just something for a friend." She gasped out. She was exhausted and spent. This was taking a toll out of her.

The captor sighed and grabbed a few tools from a table near him.

As he started torturing her, she screamed.

"Come now Miss Granger, just tell me what is in the bag." He yelled over her screams.

"Say my real name!" She screamed loudly.

"Just tell me whats in the bag, Miss Granger."

"Say my real name, and I'll tell you."

"Mrs. Malfoy, then. What's in the bag."

"An anniversary present. A nice gold watch. Happy now?"

"You promised me we wouldn't spend more than 40 Galleons on each other. This has got to be at least 60."

"100 if you are really that concerned."**  
**


	16. Bourbon Double

**A/N: Alright so this is the first of probably a few wedding posts. I don't know, weddings seem so much fun to write. I am trying to update quite a few times a day until the week of the Harry Potter premiere. I have a big one planned for right after I get back from the movie. Midnight showing! WOOT! so excited. Like seriously though, the update on the day of the Harry Potter final movie release will be a majorly large story. I'm done with it, it's the one i've been working on for probably months now. :) You'll all like it :) changes Epilogue and the whole story completely! :D also I will obviously tell you guys how awesome the movie is! :D I'm excited! **

**Thank you to all the Reviews! And favorites! :) You guys make me happy!  
**

The wedding was absolutely exquisite. There were so many people there, Hermione was certain she didn't know half the guests. There were probably a thousand chairs placed on the field besides the Weasley's home, and large tents erected on the other side for the reception. Mrs. Weasley complained that it wasn't much in the way of tradition, but it would work. They just had to be very careful with the bride.

According to Irish custom, the Bride should take a separate way home, than the way she took to the ceremony. The cake was a gift from Ginny and was custom made to match the Bride's dress. The day was gorgeous though dark storm clouds threatened the sunshine with rain. Mrs. Weasley said that that was a good sign, that the marriage would last a long time, but only if it rained. If it didn't rain, it would not last long at all.

Mrs. Weasley didn't care who Hermione was getting married to. Months before she had claimed that no matter who the groom was, the whole wedding would be hosted at the Weasley home and she would provide all the food. Hermione had tried to convince her that it was fine and that she didn't have to do that but she insisted. And she of course insisted on incorporating many customs and traditions into the wedding that it gave Hermione a headache.

There were so many Irish customs, and so many Wizarding customs, Hermione just couldn't keep up with them all. She tried, goodness knows how hard she tried, but she just couldn't and for the first time in a long time she allowed everybody else to do the thinking and just made the decisions they all needed her to make.

Like which wedding dress she liked better, or which cake she liked better. What colors went better together and what china she wanted to use. There was also the matter of music and what food to serve, how the bridesmaids dresses would look, what she wanted their hair to look like, whether her parents had told her anything they wanted her to include in her wedding.

Hermione took it all one step at a time and just allowed everyone to go with their own things on most decisions. She told Mrs. Weasley that everyone would enjoy the food she put out, no matter what it was. She told the bridesmaids to look as pretty as they wanted to without overshadowing her, and that she thought a pretty light blue would go best with everyone and with the wedding scheme. She picked out simple china patterns and a variety of music and wracked her brain trying to remember the many things her mother had told her about her own wedding.

Hermione tried as hard as she could to remember what her mother had told her about her own wedding that was so important, but she couldn't remember. She shrugged it off, and thought nothing of it. Her mother had taught her one thing when she was younger, and it was to 'let the past stay in the past. Don't linger on memories and long passed people. Move on and enjoy your own life. That's all anybody wants for you.' Hermione smiled as she remembered her mother saying just that.

She missed her mom, but she knew that she was in a better place now. Her and Papa. Hermione smiled and looked at herself in the mirror. She was beautiful. Ginny had done an amazing job on her make up and hair. She couldn't believe that she was getting married. Hermione tried to imagine her and her fiancee, living happily with however many kids they agreed on.

She tried to imagine living in a house and taking care of her and her husband and the kids. But she couldn't. She and Ron had never discussed where they would live. They had never agreed upon a number of kids to have. They never talked about how things would work once they started having kids, if they ever did. They never talked about how things would work around the house. How strict they'd be, rules for just around the house, age limits on certain things, how they would teach their kids anything.

Hermione had no idea how to take care of wizard children. She knew how to raise Muggle children that was for sure. But wizard children were different. How would you teach them about this world? She knew that they at least had fairy tales. But what about schooling? Would she seriously have to deal with her kids every day for 11 years before they finally went to school where she would never see them?

Hermione thought all of it was nuts. She was overwhelmed. There was still hours before the wedding. And she decided she needed a drink. Hermione quickly grabbed her wand off the table beside her and Apparated to a bar just outside of Diagon Alley.

"Bourbon, double." She muttered miserably. The bartender nodded and handed her a glass and filled it. She shot it back in one gulp then set it down and nodded at him to refill it. He filled it up then left the bottle there. Bartenders always know when someone needs to drink and be left alone. However one young man didn't understand that.

"What brings you here?" He asked sliding into the stool next to her and ordering a shot of whiskey.

"Can't do it." She mumbled miserably before downing her fourth shot.

"Can't do what?"

"Get married. Me and my fiancee haven't talked about anything. How many kids, where we're gonna live, how we're gonna raise kids, how strict we'll be, where they'll go to school, what chores they'll do. We were raised in completely different worlds. I mean, I want a full time job, but I don't know whether I'll be forced to give up my job to raise god knows how many kids." Hermione ranted.

The stranger beside her smirked a little and nodded.

"I get that. I'm supposed to be getting married in a week, but me and my fiancee haven't talked about any of that either. At least you're getting married because you love him."

"Not even. We're getting married because that's what everyone expects out of us." Hermione knew who it was she was talking to and she knew she didn't have to censor in front of him. He of all people understood.

"Really? But I thought... the two of you? You can't be serious?"

"Yah. I tried to break it off with him months ago. But he pulled the whole 'people are recovering and they need hope and strong leaders' bull shit. I mean seriously. But did you not even get a say in the matter?"

"Nope. Dad picked her out pretty much off a line. While we were technically graduating, he picked one out, found out her name then signed everything with her parents. We've already bought two houses. One in Paris, France for her, and one in Australia for me. I plan on learning to barbecue, surf, and herd cattle."

"Are you serious? Do they even do that anymore?"

"I don't know, but Australia was a good movie and it inspired me to work as a Cattle Runner."

Hermione laughed, trying not to spill her drink as she refilled it.

"So today the big day?"

"Yes. Though, to be honest. That house in Australia sounds real good. I can teach you to surf you know."

"Really?"

"Yep. I learned from a friend in America. It was real easy. Though its really hard at first then gets easier as time goes on. You'll get the hang of it. With those umm... football muscles of yours."

"Football?"

"It's the only Muggle sport I could think of. Plus it's actually kind of similar to Quidditch. And by kind of similar I mean not at all alike. But we are in a Muggle bar."

"Got it. You know, neither of us are under oath right now. I made no contract with my fiancee, and you aren't married yet. If we left now, we wouldn't really be breaking any oath."

"I was just thinking that same thing." But she sounded doubtful. He looked at her with longing eyes.

"Come on, Hermione. Think back on fourth and fifth year. We were in love back then! I loved you then and I love you now. Come away with me and just be with me like it used to be. Don't you remember?"

"Of course I remember. I can't ever forget. I just feel so bad. Every time I try to imagine a life with my fiancee, I see your face. I see the kids we could have, a house that we could own. A family that wouldn't hold any prejudices against anyone or anything. I used to imagine it so much that every time I close my eyes I see it. The life I wanted to have for so long. The life I want so bad right now. But I feel bad, because there is a large and beautiful wedding waiting for me in a large field. And a man who loves me regardless of how much I despise him waiting for my hand in marriage."

"Then forget all of it. Forget him and forget the wedding. They forced your hand. You tried to break it off before things got out of control, but they got out of control. You're unhappy and I can see it so clearly. Why can't they? Why can't you! I know you're unhappy and I'm offering to whisk you away and make everything better! I'm offering to take you to a place where you can't be unhappy. Please, come with me."

Hermione looked at the stranger, her eyes filled with tears. She wanted to leave this bar and just go to Australia with him.

"My fiancee doesn't know I have the house in Australia. She told me to buy a house for her in Paris, and then to buy one wherever the hell I want for me. She doesn't know and all the paper work is under a separate name. Technically, Hermione, you own my house. But only if you marry me is it truly yours."

"Sounds like a bad ultimatum. You get a house in Australia, but only if you marry the love of your life." Hermione said in a spokesperson voice. He chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Come on, you know it's worth it." He whispered in her ear. She smiled and thought for only a mere second.

"Will you come with me just real quick? I need to stop by the wedding and leave a note."

* * *

_Dear Ginny,_

_You're always begging me to find happiness. Well I've found it. Tell everyone I'm sorry but I can't do this. I tried to break it off months ago, I knew that we weren't right for each other. But he said it was for the greater good and stuck with it. But it has gotten out of control. I don't love him anymore. And I can't do this. Tell Mrs. Weasley I'm sorry for all the trouble I put her and the rest of your family through getting this wedding ready for me and all. But I can't do it. I won't be returning to Britain, not anytime soon at least. Me and my greatest love have reconnected and we are running away. He also was almost lost to a marriage that he saw no end to. So we decided to run away together. I'll keep in touch Ginny. I love you soo much. I left my bouquet for you. I know that you would have been the one to catch it at any wedding I had. I hope to find an invitation to your wedding in a matter of months. Make it at least a plus one until further notice. Me and my love have spent enough time apart as it is. _

_Thank you for being the best friend a girl could ask for. And for being the sister that will mine through practice if not by law. I love you! _

_Hermione_

* * *

A Week Later...

Ginny picked up the newspaper and nearly buckled over in laughter. She had of course shown Harry Hermione's letter. They had all been debating who it was that Hermione ran off with. No one had any idea and just shrugged it off after a few hours of arguing. But now it was a week after the failed wedding and everyone was back to normal.

The front headlines of today's newspaper however was going to send the whole household into an uproar. She showed the paper to Harry who smiled and then started laughing before screaming at Mrs. Weasley to get down here. She was going to need to see this first before any of her sons saw it. She made it downstairs in record time and nearly fainted when she saw the headline. She then swore and tried to hide the paper before remembering she was a witch and lit it on fire.

"Ron cannot see this!" She hissed at Ginny and Harry who were laughing their asses off. She went off to go find Arthur so that he could make sure his son never ran into a paper today. But Ginny continued laughing as Harry picked up a remnant of the newspaper. All that was left was the headline

**Rich Boy Missing For A Week: Draco Malfoy Misses Own Wedding**


	17. Irish Style Partying

**A/N: Alright so this chapter is a mix of 27 Dresses and the cool party scene from Titanic. If you can imagine those in your heads at some point in time it might make a bit of sense :) hopefully it makes sense anyway. I'm not really sure how to explain the whole Irish party thing. You kind of need to go to one to understand what they're like. :)**

Hermione looked out at the wedding, Ginny was right it was absolutely gorgeous. Ginny was at least hoping it was beautiful. But she hadn't seen it yet. She wasn't allowed to. Harry had put everything together and had paid for everything. And Ginny had only been allowed to do her dress, the bridesmaids dresses, and the flowers that she liked. She didn't even get to pick out the cake.

She was only a little worried about how everything would turn out, but Hermione had definitely been helping him out. She knew Ginny was going to absolutely love this wedding. It would be perfect. Mainly because Hermione had read the diary Ginny had kept when she was younger and they had recreated the wedding Ginny had made up when she was younger.

Hermione looked back at Ginny who was sitting in a chair as Mrs. Weasley, Lavender, Fleur, Angelina, and some other witch fixed her hair, make up, nails and other body parts to their liking. Hermione wanted to laugh as she caught a glimpse of Ginny's face. She looked absolutely miserable and by the glare of her eyes she was about to seriously mame everyone in there if they didn't give her a second to breathe.

"Alright everyone, come on. Let's give the bride some room to breathe. With all this hairspray and potion fumes around she'll suffocate to death before she can even say I do." Hermione said, receiving a thank you look from Ginny. It was no wonder why Hermione was the Maid of Honor. She knew exactly what Ginny was thinking.

All the women vacated the tent, some throwing Hermione dirty looks as they left. Ginny stood up and walked around a bit. She couldn't go outside on the off chance that Harry would accidentally be walking by. According to Wizarding custom it was a curse on your marriage if the groom saw the Bride before the wedding.

Hermione was excited for this wedding. Her two best friends were getting married and she actually had a date to it. She was so happy for Ginny. This was going to be the best day of her life. She knew it.

"I can't believe today has come. It feels as if its all a dream, and I'll wake up like normal in a few moments and have to live it all over again. This is the way I always imagined everything to be like, it just feels like it should all be a big dream." Ginny said itching to open a flap to let in some air. Hermione nodded, knowing that everything she was saying was true. She had always imagined this as her wedding, why would it differ from her dream any?

That's one way Hermione knew that everything was perfect. Because Ginny was confusing it with all her many dreams about her very own wedding day. Hermione smiled a secret smile, knowing the dream feeling wasn't going to go away. This was going to be an absolutely perfect day. Of course there might be some hitches, she realized as she heard outraged yells coming from outside.

"What are you doing here? This is is my only sister's wedding! Why are you going to ruin it for her? Why are you such a fucking bloody arse?" Ron was yelling outside. I could hear Harry talking quietly to Ron, I could even see what was going on outside.

"What is it? Where do we have to go?" Harry asked, knowing that he was going to tell them about some mission.

Ron and Harry were part of the Magical Law Enforcement. What they did was they traveled from place to place and picked up criminals or spied on certain Dark organizations. And this was their boss, supposedly bringing them more work.

"I'm here for the wedding. Harry you have been excused from work for a month as you have asked, and Ron I expect to see you there bright and early Wednesday morning." Today was Thursday. Hermione smiled as she thought about how nice the boss was. But I could tell Ron was going to be extremely rude.

"Why so you can ruin her life like you've ruined mine and Harry's?" Ron snapped at their boss. Hermione looked at Ginny who was about to laugh. Harry actually liked the guy, it was just Ron being a prejudiced jerk. Hermione knew in fact that the guy Harry and Ron were talking to was a nice guy and actually not the bad guy Ron made him out to be.

"Ron, we invited him. He's a nice guy. Get over your childish hatred. He has." Harry said, hoping that would be final. But Ron started protesting very loudly and most of them were swears. Hermione couldn't take it anymore and went outside.

"Hermione, go back in the tent. We'll deal with this asshole." Ron said glaring at his boss. Hermione rolled her eyes and walked over to Ron's boss and kissed his cheek.

"Hi darling, glad you could make it." Then she led him away as Ron stared open mouthed at the two of them.

* * *

"Ginny you look amazing." Hermione said as she prepared Ginny to walk down the aisle. There was only a few seconds left until she was going to walk down and meet Ginny at the alter. The wedding was promising to be a very magical event, and the reception was looking like an awesome party that was waiting to happen.

Hermione heard her cue to walk down the aisle and started. She was the last to come in before the bride and looked beautiful in the dark red dress Ginny had picked out for the bridesmaids. As she made it up to the altar, she heard the beautiful music of the Bridal March starting up, and she turned around to watch her best friend walk down the aisle. She saw Mr. Weasley, and then Ginny.

She was absolutely gorgeous in her dress. It was a princess cut dress in beautiful pearl. It had no sleeves, and was a bodice all the way down to the top of her thighs and then flared out beautifully. It had crystals sparkling all over it, making it look like she was a beautiful diamond. Hermione looked at Harry, she always enjoyed the look on the face of the groom as he watched his bride walk down the aisle. He was grinning like he was amazed to have found a girl like her.

And right before she got to the altar he seemed worried. Like he thought he wasn't worthy of a beauty like Ginny. But he was. He most definitely was. Eventually Ginny made it all the way to the altar and it seemed like forever before they were able to say their I do's. And eventually it was over. The ceremony was done with and now came the party.

It was Irish tradition to take a different way home than you took on the way to the wedding. So went Mrs. Weasley announced that it was time for the reception, Harry smiled and summoned his broom from nearby. He grabbed his Mrs. Potter and they climbed onto the Firebolt and went off over the house to the Reception in the field on the other side of the house. Ginny looked happy. The rest of the guests ran from their seats to the other side of the house and were waiting at the Reception by the time the couple touched down on the ground.

Then the party started. An Irish band started up some music and soon everyone was dancing. The rowdy Irish music was lively and there was no specific dance moves. Hermione was dancing crazily and wasn't caring. No one cared when Irish music was playing.

Suddenly it seemed like there was a competition going on. Hermione got up on the table and started Irish dancing, and competing with other party guests on Irish dancing. Hermione was undoubtedly the best Irish dancer at the wedding. Then she went up against Harry and Ron's boss. She had met her match, no doubt. He was pretty good himself, and kept smiling at her whenever she danced.

"You dance pretty good." He shouted over the din of the party. Hermione smiled.

"So do you."

"Well I must admit that my mother made me take dance classes when I was younger. But not Irish dancing. That one I learned when I went on a business trip to Ireland." He said laughing as the competition continued.

"I started taking Irish dance lessons when I was 4. I've been a professional dancer since I was 10. I guess that means I kind of cheated." Hermione said looking devious. Harry's boss stopped dancing and looked at her with shock.

"Miss Hermione Granger has cheated? I'm shocked! You should be ashamed of yourself, Miss Granger." He said putting his hands on his hips.

"You're one to talk. You asked me to teach you how to Irish dance in Ireland. That's just as bad." Hermione said getting close to him.

"You're right. This is fun. I'm totally gonna be your date to the next wedding you go to." He said smiling at Hermione.

"You better be. We've been dating for 3 years. If I go with someone else, you should really be worrying."

He stared at Hermione, seeing how beautiful she was. And how she seemed to be having the most amazing time at this wedding. To be honest he had been staring at her almost all day. She was so beautiful, it was hard not to.

Hermione had noticed him staring at her while she walked down the aisle and throughout the whole wedding. She had tried not to look at him, but it wasn't really working. She at one point smiled at him then nodded towards the bride and groom, motioning that he should be watching them not staring at her. He smiled and nodded and turned his attention to the wedding he was currently attending.

But now they were dancing and he had only eyes for her. It was no longer required for his eyes to be anywhere else.

For what felt like hours they danced the night away, they drank and laughed and danced some more. And when it was just them and the Weasleys and Potters there, Hermione finally stopped dancing and sat down.

"I love Irish parties! They're so much fun!"

"So, my dearest, how did you enjoy the wedding?" Hermione's date asked her.

"It was amazing. Me and Harry put it together. A recreation from Ginny's diary. How'd you like it?" Hermione asked sipping at her Butterbeer.

"I thought it was absolutely extravagant. Who was the main planner you or Harry?" He seemed quite interested in what was going on.

"Harry. I just provided him with the information. He oversaw everything." Hermione said eying her date carefully.

"Good."

"Why?"

"Well, we've been dating for awhile, right?"

"About 3 years, yes."

"Well, I just wanted to know who to call when we start planning our wedding. I think I like the idea of doing it all myself with the help of Harry and Ginny and letting you just relax."

"And who says I'm gonna marry you?" Hermione asked folding her arms over her chest.

"Well obviously he's gonna ask you sometime soon." Fred said as he picked up the chairs next to Hermione.

"Ya, and by the looks of it, it's gonna be a very sweet and emotional proposal. You're gonna cry. And so will you Hermione." George said picking up the chair Hermione was in. She started laughing as George started to carry her off.

"George! Fred! I need that!" Hermione's date exclaimed getting up and chasing after the twins.

"Oh, well then here you go." The place they happened to set Hermione down, just happened to be a nice beautiful table for two with fairy lights everywhere and the altar from before in the background. It also happened to be the very place Fred, George and Hermione's date just happened to discuss earlier in the day.

Hermione's date knelt to the ground, and held out a beautiful silver ring with what seemed to be the largest and most brilliant emerald Hermione had ever seen. Small diamonds encrusted the band in a snake like formation. It was absolutely beautiful, albeit very Slytherin.

"Will you Hermione Jean Granger, do me and my family the greatest honor of being my wife?" He asked holding out the ring to her.

Hermione just stared at it, amazed that he was proposing to her. She nodded, unable to speak. He smiled so big he looked like the happiest person in the world, and when he finally recovered from the shock of her accepting he slipped the ring onto her finger. It was, of course, an absolute perfect fit.

"Now I can show you off at parties as being the next Mrs. Draco Malfoy."

**A/N: don't ask why i love leaving off like that. It just makes it seem cooler. I dunno. I like it. :) Hope you do too! Please Review! :)**


	18. Laws of Attraction

**A/N: Alright this is kind of a remake of the movie Laws of Attraction. If you have ever seen it, it's gonna have a bit of that, but DracoxHermione style. :) Hope you guys like! You excited for the final Harry Potter movie? I am! :D R&R!**

Draco Malfoy was the most notorious Lawyer in the wizarding world. He was ruthless, and got every piece of information he needed and nothing more. He could make a jury bend to his will and get the verdict he wanted. No one stood a chance against him, and he was the most sought after in his profession. He was also the most expensive lawyer and therefore catered only to the most elite wizards out there.

He was also counted as the most eligible bachelor in Witch Weekly magazine. He had been for the past 14 months. Straight.

Draco was proud of his position and nearly flaunted it wherever he went. He would go to bars, and allow women to fawn over him and every night would go home with another girl. And in the morning he would make sure he was gone before she woke up with a note telling her that he would call her when he got the chance. It was funny, he never got a chance to call anyone back.

This story starts with Draco's visit to a bar on October 26, just over 5 years after his graduation from Hogwarts. He walked in after work and order a double bourbon, trying to forget the trying day he just had. His client, and best friend Blaise Zabini was getting a divorce from the blood sucking wife he had married 3 years ago. And while Draco was representing Blaise, the second best lawyer known to Wizards was representing his wife. The two had yet to go up against one another, but by the looks of it, she might actually be better than him.

Blaise was an entrepreneur and because he wasn't that great he had fallen back on his ability to sing and paint. So Blaise was a big time musician for Wizards, while his wife designed jewelry and dress robes for women. Blaise loved what he did, but wasn't going to go and ruin it all because he had a wife. That wasn't like Blaise. Draco understood that. Which was why he was representing Blaise and was determined to win this one.

Draco's opposition was different. She wanted justice. She had heard of the rockstar a few times before, but never really paid him much attention. And she had never cared for the lawyer currently pitted against her. She thought him childish and on some occasions even rude. Her client's husband was a cheater. There were multiple eyewitness accounts and a few paper trails the husband had forgotten to clean up.

On October 26, Draco sat at the bar drinking his bourbon when his opposing counsel walked in and sat down at the other end of the bar. She ordered something and sat looking over notes. She seemed too focused to even notice Draco, and Draco was too stubborn to notice her. For a few minutes, he just stared at her, wishing he could look away. But he couldn't. Somehow she captivated him.

She had beautiful brown hair that was straight and shiny. Her face was clear and any skin he saw was flawless. She was beautiful. Though something seemed oddly familiar about her. Draco couldn't tell what it was, but he didn't care. She was brilliant and he couldn't help but stare at her.

"Mr. Malfoy, if you will please stop staring, I would be much obliged." Miss Granger said not even looking up from her notes.

"What makes you think I'm staring?" Draco said eying her carefully.

"Because you haven't moved your shot glass in a while. Meaning you're too distracted to even drink after this long day. And the barman warned me that you were staring at me. Now please, sir, restrain your sexual habits. And go back to what you were doing before I walked in." She said, still not looking up from her work.

Draco, however, continued to stare at her, his gaze never leaving her face. She was intriguing. He had never seen her work in the court room, but he was surprised to see that she was very good. There was something about the way she worked, the way she presented the information that just made Draco want to believe everything she said. But he couldn't. He was going against her.

"You're still staring."

"Ok, yes I am. However, there is something I want to talk to you about. How do you do it?" Draco asked.

"Do what?"

"How do you just make me believe everything you say?"

"I just present the information I have to give in a very factual manner and with as much accuracy as I can provide. I just so happen to be right." Miss Granger said, grabbing another file from her work bag beside her feet.

"Really? Do you have a certain order?"

"Just an order that makes everything sound right. Don't worry, I won't make your client pay too much in this trial. He'll still have most of his dignity. Maybe."

"I wasn't necessarily concerned about my client's dignity. I was worried about my performance in the court room. I want to know how you are so I can be better than you." Draco said simply. He was trying his hardest to be charming. He was hoping she would succumb to his good looks and name.

"Well, to be better than me, all you have to do is make it flow." She said before standing up and leaving. Draco watched her leave, confused as to why she didn't react to his charm.

He sat there wondering, how on Earth he was ever considered the best lawyer in the Wizarding world.

He decided to look it up. He downed the rest of his drink and made his way back to work.

He started going through files. He tried to figure out what had made her stand in the background. And then he found it. She was new. She had only recently become part of a firm, but the three years previous she spent doing probono work for Muggles and Wizards alike.

It was amazing. How had she become such a good lawyer without him noticing? Draco started to think about then remembered where he had heard her name before.

"This couldn't be..."


	19. 31 Days

**A/N: So the Casey Anthony Trial has ended. And this is in honor of the killer that is now free in our streets. Fantastic. **

**In much happier news! this is the last update before the Harry Potter final movie! I have decided that I will be off fan fiction for a week so that I can make my next updates even better! The next update will be a 12,000 word update :) Be happy! **

**Also thank you to voldyismyfather for reviewing! Your reviews have made my day really! :) Be prepared to cry during this. I tried my hardest to make it heart breaking :( kind of...**

**Now onto the story!**

31 days. Draco couldn't believe that it had been 31 days since he had heard that beautiful laugh. Or seen that beautiful smile. 31 days. That was too long for Draco. He wanted to hold that angel in his arms. He wanted to see the face that had been his for 5 years. He was furious at the person who had taken his angel away.

Potter walked towards Draco, a serious look on his face. He knew Potter was going to tell Draco the worst. Draco tried to prepare himself, but it wasn't working. He could feel the tears rolling down his face. He knew that whatever Potter had to say, was going to destroy his mind.

"Draco Malfoy, I need you to come with me. We have a body for you to identify." Draco couldn't hold it back any more. He allowed Harry to lead him under the caution tape and towards the crime scene. Draco wasn't holding back the tears. He couldn't. This was his angel, his baby, and yet he was here, identifying a body.

Draco looked down at the fragile body, he keeled over on the ground, crying loudly, sobbing even. How could this have happened? How could things have gone like this? His world was completely turned upside down, and everything he knew and loved was gone. Out of his mouth came the most anguished and heart breaking scream Harry had ever heard. Harry knew how hard this was for Draco. He knew that he had been drug down this road at a terrible speed and had been in pain for the last month.

But they hadn't had any information. They had no leads, nothing to go off of. Draco knew very little and they hadn't been able to talk to Pansy, who was the main suspect in what was now a murder investigation.

Harry nodded to an intern. The intern ran and got a blanket and some warm tea for Draco. Harry slid down on the ground beside his old schoolmate. If anyone had told him that in a few short years he would be comforting Draco Malfoy as a friend, he would have hit them sent them directly to St. Mungo's and had them checked out.

But here he was. The intern came back and Harry wrapped Draco in the blanket and gave him the tea. This was going to be a long day. A very long day.

"Can you think of anything that would help us?" Harry asked quietly.

Draco then relayed all the information he knew. There were a few things Harry hadn't heard before. And when he asked Draco, he just shook his head and said they didn't seem important before. Harry wrote down all the stuff Draco had said. The things he knew, and the things that were new. Draco sat there on the floor, still crying. Harry had made a motion to another Law Enforcement employee to remove the body to Autopsy. They were going to find out how this innocent life had died.

The more they knew about how they died, the more they would know about who killed them and where they were killed. Harry handed all that Draco had relayed to another employee who took it to examination. This process would take awhile. Harry knew that, and Harry knew that Draco knew that.

Draco was one of the best detectives in England. He was definitely going to be the head of the Department of Law Enforcement some day. Or everyone thought he was. Harry was sure that he would one day get back on track. But others in the Department were not as sure. They thought this was the end of Draco Malfoy. They all knew how badly he was affected by this. The worst part was, Draco couldn't do anything about it.

No one blamed him for how bad he was taking this. He was taking this kind of news just like any of them would have taken it. They all knew that he was brave, continuing to show up every day, doing his work as best he could, making it his duty to find that missing person. But now that they had turned up dead, Harry knew it was going to really take a while for Draco to get back on the horse. It wasn't normal if it didn't.

"Harry, we have to find out what happened. I won't rest until I find out who did this to my baby. And neither you nor anyone else will stop me from making sure this person has the worst possible ends. Are we clear?" Draco said, his voice dangerous and low. Harry nodded, completely understanding. He wasn't going to get in the way of Draco's duty. This was his life and his lost life to take revenge upon.

"Mr. Malfoy." It was the Minister of Magic. Draco looked up, knowing the voice when he heard it. He stood up, not wanting to insult the Minister of Magic by remaining on the ground. Harry noted that Malfoy's behaviors were becoming more and more like a military man. Perhaps he had actually watched some of those Muggle movies Hermione had suggested to him.

"We have found Ms. Parkinson. She is being brought in for questioning. Though we are quite certain she did it. We don't have enough proof yet, but we are going to hold her and eventually charge her. She will be tried in front of the Wizengamot and they will decide whether she is to blame for this death or if there is another we are to question. Thank you for your cooperation. I will allow you to take as much time off as you need. I understand that this will not be easy to recover from." The Minister said very closely to Draco. He and Draco had had many encounters and were on very good terms.

"Sir, I am ready to go back to work. I want to help catch this murderer." Draco said looking the Minister straight in the eye.

"I'm sorry son, I can allow you back to work, but you are not permitted to work directly on this case. You are too close to it, and it could cloud your judgement. We don't want to convict the wrong person, we want the right person behind bars." The Minister said. He was being very gentle with Draco's feelings. He was trying hard not to put him down.

"I understand sir. I believe, then, that I will take your offer of leave from work. I fear I will need quite a long time."

"Take as long as you need, Draco. You are our best detective and I don't want your future being harmed by this. I want you to be fully recovered before you work again. You understand that a Psyche evaluation will be required before you start work again." Draco nodded. He understood the process. The Minister nodded, and without another word left.

"Harry. Please keep me in the loop. I want to know everything that's going on." Draco said not moving.

"Drake, you know I will. Hey, head on over to the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley will cook up something hot for you, and the Twins will give you something to think about. You're gonna be ok. I'll Floo as soon as we get more information. You should go."

"Harry. You're a good friend." Draco whispered quietly before Apparating away. Harry watched his friend and partner disappear. This was going to be hard. He looked over at the doors to the Autopsy room. He wasn't going to be able to go in there. He couldn't. It was too painful. For five years that body had been Draco's whole world. For five years, this had been all Draco talked about, thought about. He breathed and lived for that body. And now, the future they had held, the memories they would have had... they were all gone. Harry started to cry as he thought about how such an innocent being had been ripped out of it's life and thrown into this.

Harry wasn't going to be okay after this. He would keep it together until they caught the asshole who had done this, and then he was going to take his own leave. No one would deny him of it either. They all would need awhile.

Harry thought about poor Toby. He had been so young. Toby Malfoy, was Draco's son. He had been missing for a month, his mother out partying, his father worried sick. They had finally found him. Wrapped in duct tape, in a trunk, at the bottom of a lake. No fingerprints, no blood, nothing to identify a murderer. But they had the parents alibis. They had an Autopsy about how Toby was killed. Or they would within the hour. They would have enough, they would find enough to convict someone.

"Harry." It was Neville. He was the interrogator and seemed to have some information.

"Pansy said that after she had left Toby with the Nanny she had gone to a bar and partied. And she partied the next day. On that third day the Missing Persons went out. She said she never went home or anywhere else other than clubs and bars for two days."

"Then the only window is that she did it before she went partying. Question the Nanny. It's possible Toby wasn't with the Nanny." Harry said seeing the lies in the woman's alibi. Pansy Parkinson. The pug faced slut who had gone and gotten herself pregnant after drugging Draco. But when Draco found out, he told Hermione everything and even shared his memory with her. Which was of Parkinson drugging him. Hermione forgave him, never doubting for one second that he would never cheat on her.

But Parkinson hadn't thought about her being a single mom. She thought Draco would marry her when he found out she was pregnant with his kid. In reality he was totally prepared to fight her in court for the child. They agreed on a system so that Toby would be with both parents. Draco got the good end of the deal and had Toby most of the time. However Toby would spend a week with Pansy. During the last week he had spent with his mother, she had pawned Toby off on 'the Nanny' and gone partying. Harry had a hard time believing that.

True enough, when Neville came back he said that the Nanny hadn't seen Toby since February. The month was now May. Harry told Neville to go back and question Pansy about who she really left Toby with. Harry was nearly positive that she would have no name to give and would say that she gave the kid back to Draco.

Everyone knew that Pansy was a terrible mother. She was trying to frame Draco for the murder of his own son and half the Department of Magical Law Enforcement knew it. Harry especially knew it.

"Alright, she says that she left him with her boyfriend. She said she was too scared to tell us before because she wasn't sure how we would react to a new man in the equation. I think it's bullshit Harry." Neville said rolling his eyes. Harry nodded.

"Go and find out who the trunk belongs to. We should really find that out. I'll go talk to Parkinson."

Harry knew this was going to be interesting. The last time he saw her she was ignoring her son and smoking. He had always hated that woman.

"Miss Parkinson." Harry said stepping into the interrogation room.

"Mr. Potter. Can I go now? I just lost the love child of me and Draco. And I want to go comfort him. I know he'll be needing it." She said not sounding one bit sad.

"No. Sit down. We have sent Draco home. It's just you and me, Pugface. Now. Can you tell me what really happened the day before you went partying. This would be about three days prior to your filing of the Missing Persons Report. I am eager to hear your alibi for this." Harry said sitting on the table in front of her.

As Parkinson gave some bullshit answer about how she was giving her son a bath, Harry saw it. He knew they would find the death a result of drowning. He knew they would find some bruises on the neck and maybe the chest. He knew that when they came back with the Autopsy report, he would point to Parkinson. Every thing she said contradicted something she had said before.

"Miss Parkinson, I hold in my hand, the report you filed when Toby went missing. Can you tell me what you dressed him in before you gave him to the Nanny? Or your boyfriend as you have revised?" Harry asked, knowing she wouldn't give the right answer.

"I dressed him in a blue polo and jeans with blue Converse sneakers." Pansy said staring Harry straight in the eye. Harry smiled.

"You said in your report that you dressed him in his pajamas because you left late at night."

Pansy fished around for words, trying to save herself.

"Mr. Potter." Harry looked over his shoulder and saw Neville with a small file folder in his hand. It was the Autopsy report.

"Excuse me, Miss Parkinson. I'll allow you sometime to figure out your next story." He said before walking out of the interrogation room, making sure to take the file with him.

"Please tell me that Toby was drowned and that they found oval bruises on his neck and upper chest." Harry said, truly hoping it would be that easy.

"Harry... how on earth did you know?" Neville asked his eyes wide. "Did she?"

"Yes. She told me how she gave him a bath right before she left to give him to her boyfriend. And who did the trunk belong to?"

"It belong to Pansy's grandmother. It was an heirloom treasured by the family. She gave it to Pansy when she passed away. Does this mean it's over?" Neville asked, sounding as relieved as Harry felt.

"Yes, Neville. I think it is. We have enough to prove to the Wizengamot without using Veritaserum. And we can use as a last resort." Harry said feeling thankful that this was all over. Or would be soon enough.

"Harry." It was one of Harry's interns. Harry looked at them, hoping they had more good news.

"The boyfriend does exist. And he says he had Toby for two days. Before his father came and picked him up."


	20. Movies and Mischief

**A/N: Ok, so for you to get the gist of this chapter you should know that it is a sequel to my next chapter. So it won't make sense for a little bit. But bear with me, it was too awesome to not post immediately :)  
**

**Thank you to voldyismyfather for suggesting this :) I immediately started working on it after you suggested it :)**

**By the way, I'm not a funny person. But I tried to make this as comical as possible... it's funny to me. so please review if you don't understand something. i'll explain it. :) And by the way, the screaming thing... that's actually gonna happen at the midnight premiere... just saying...  
**

**Now on to the chapter!**

* * *

"Explain to me again what the point of this is?" Draco asked as Hermione drug him into the strange metal contraption. He had been in some like this, but never one driven by someone his own age. He was slightly unnerved to be in this thing, and was unsure where they were going in the first place.

"Come on, Draco! It'll be fun. You'll have fun." Hermione said, laughing at him. He eyed her car cautiously, not wanting to step foot into the thing. Hermione almost had to drag him in to the car. But she knew what she was doing and she knew he would enjoy this. How could he not? She had never known someone who hadn't.

Draco reluctantly got into the car, but still wasn't sure why they were doing this. Hermione hadn't explained the whole thing to him. And she knew how much he hated walking into a Muggle pastime without knowing that much about it. As much as he wanted to be involved in everything that was Hermione, there were a few Muggle things he wasn't quite sure about.

"Hermione, please tell me what we're doing?" Draco asked looking at his girlfriend.

"We are going to go see a movie."

"A what?"

"A movie! It's gonna be good, don't worry about it."

"What in the name of Merlin's saggy balls is a movie?" Draco asked, his mouth forming awkwardly around the word.

"It's a story played out people using special cameras."

"That preposterous! Why would they do something like that?"

"Because it's a form of entertainment."

"What kind of entertainment? We sit around and watch a book? That doesn't sound like too much fun to me."

"Yes, well you are a ferret and have no say in the matter. You are going to see this movie with me no matter what. Got it?"

Draco grumbled a response, not actually responding.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy! You will watch this movie, and you will enjoy it. You got it?"

Another grumbled response.

"If you don't get it, then I will never do anything... anything with you ever again. You got that?"

"Yes, 'Mione." Draco grumbled, actually forming words. Hermione smiled, knowing that she had won.

"So what movie are we watching?" Draco asked as they turned into the movie theater parking lot.

"It's a movie that is the end of a large series. It'll make a lot of sense to you. Don't worry. I'll even give you quick run through of the previous movies before it starts. Don't worry. You'll figure it out." Hermione said reassuring him.

"Well what's it's name?" Draco asked, getting very annoyed with Hermione's vagueness.

"Henry Plotter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2."

"Who and the what? And why part 2?"

"Well, it's the last book in a seven book series, but there was too much in the last book that they had to split it into two parts. So this is the very last part."

"Wait, so you're taking me to see a movie that is number 8 without seeing the previous 7?"

"Yes. Don't worry. You'll catch on immediately."

"What makes you so sure?"

"Because I am. Now be quiet." Hermione nearly had to drag Draco into the movie theater.

After they had purchased their tickets, Hermione started giving him a run through of the movie.

Draco was absolutely confused. He had no idea what to make of any of this. He understood the plot and all the characters, they seemed a tad bit familiar, but most everything seemed familiar in some way or another. But his main source of confusion was how all of this was supposed to work?

Muggles had no access to magic, how could they create all the things Hermione had said? And how on earth did the pictures move? And what if a character died? Hermione said there were quite a few characters who were going to die in this movie, did that mean that actor was dead too? Draco was very confused, and tried to keep up.

Eventually the lights went dim and Hermione told him to be quiet.

"Wait, what?" He said in a normal voice, receiving many loud SHHH's from the girls behind him.

"You're not allowed to talk during a movie. If you have to, and I mean absolutely have to, you whisper. OK?" Hermione asked, Draco nodded.

Suddenly, what seemed to be a very popular song started and all the girls behind Draco started screaming and clapping, making Draco jump, scared for his life. He almost whirled around pulling out his wand to see who was attacking them.

"It's the main theme for the movie, like the main theme for a ballet or the motif in Beethoven's Fifth. They're just excited." Hermione explained, holding him down. Draco nodded, but kept his hand firmly on his wand just in case.

As the movie went on, Draco became more and more interested. At one point, he looked over at Hermione to see her half smiling, half crying. He smiled and held her hand, knowing she needed it. Towards the end of the movie he watched this red headed git making out with...

"OH MY GODD! THAT BLASTED WOMAN DID NOT DO ANYTHING RIGHT!" Draco stood up screaming. Hermione pulled him down and told him to be quiet almost crying with laughter.

"Draco, be quiet!" And with that they attempted to watch the rest of the movie without any more hitches. Draco was upset at how many people she killed, and how badly she destroyed the battle. But because Draco had actually been there, he had no idea when the movie would end. But Hermione did.

"Sonorus." She whispered quietly at a small point towards the end of the movie. And when the screen went blank, Hermione stood up and screamed,

"MISCHIEF MANAGED!"

Needless to say, she and Draco ran out of the theater as quickly as they could. After multiple Draco outbursts and giggling fits from Hermione, the fan girls were about ready to kill the couple.

"I like the movies." Draco said as they walked around the plaza."Though, I'm slightly concerned about these actors. I feel like if they make one wrong move, their career could go down the tubes. Along with their life if they get cast in a dying character."

"Draco, the actors don't actually die."

"Oh, really? Well they're fantastic! It looked like they were really dead. Granted, they looked a little weird, but you know I guess how good can you get with actual live actors." Draco said, taking some more of the popcorn Hermione had bought.

"You are recklessly hopeless." Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"What do you mean? I understand the whole movie concept now. Fantastic thing that." Draco said, popping some more popcorn into his mouth.

"Wait till I make you watch Avatar."


	21. While You Were Running

**A/N: This took me weeks to write. Hope you guys really like it. Whenever I manage to finish it. :) also I know it kinda skims over a lot. But I hope you all understand I couldn't go into full description like normal.**

**So the movie was good. It's not as sad as the 1st part. But I think for all you Dramione Shippers, this will make you much more happy. :) Enjoy.  
**

**While You Were Running**

He had left. He had actually left. I sat there wondering how I had ever fallen for him. Thinking about it, if things ever got complicated and he was stressed, he might run away like he had done today. I sat there on the rocks, thinking over my life, over all the things that had been said and done. Maybe things between me and Ron weren't meant to be. Maybe I was just imagining things and he was really my knight in shining armor. I didn't know, but right now he wasn't anything to me.

Harry came outside and sat down next to me. Things were getting complicated. We were searching for the Horcruxes and had yet to have any luck in finding anything. I looked at Harry who smiled at me encouragingly. We couldn't just sit around waiting for him to come back. He left us. That wasn't our problem. I looked at Harry and we started to pack up our things. We had to keep moving. But now that Ron was gone we could get serious and Apparate where ever we needed to go.

We Apparated to another location and quickly set to work on the spells and enchantments and tried to figure out our next step in finding Horcruxes. Harry said he wanted to visit Godric's Hollow, so we agreed to do that, then move onto Luna's, then go from there. As we Apparated to Godric's Hollow, I got a funny feeling about something. It was strange, almost like someone was following us.

We walked down the street, and at first I was weary because I heard noises from behind us. Suddenly a twig cracked and I knew for sure someone was following us. I turned around my wand at the ready. Harry stopped beside me, unsure of what I was doing. I muttered quietly a revealing spell and found none other than Draco Malfoy in our presence.

Ropes quickly bound around his body and hands, and he was frozen in place. "What are you doing here, Malfoy?" I asked dangerously. The last time I saw him he was trying to prove something to me. He was trying to make me believe.

-Flashback-

"Hey, can I talk to you?" Draco said to me, his dark gray eyes filled with concern. I nodded, unsure of what he was going to say. We had been trying to be friends for a few weeks, leaving all of our past prejudices behind.

We walked around silently for a bit. Both of our minds running through war tactics. I knew he was thinking for the other side, he couldn't help it. He had born and bred that way. School would be ending in a few days and it wouldn't be a surprise if I never saw him again. I didn't want him to just disappear and end up being some Death Eater I eventually killed or took captive. This war was going to change so much. He looked at me, and I realized just how much he had changed since first year.

"I have to leave tomorrow. And I need you to leave too. It's not safe here anymore. He knows a way in to the Castle without being detected. Please, leave tonight and go be with your parents for what little time we have left til the real fighting starts. Please Hermione." He pleaded with me, but I couldn't help but feel confused and slightly angry.

"How do you know he knows a way in?" I asked cautiously, my voice low and fearful. He hung his head, admitting his own faults. "What? How could you do this? Draco, I trusted you! And you lead the Death Eaters straight into Hogwarts?" I asked, furious that he would do such a thing, but before he could speak, rumbles were heard somewhere in the castle followed by screams. I glared at him before walking away, I had to go help, I had to right his wrong.

"Hermione, please just listen to me!" He pleaded heavily, he was running after me, but I couldn't stop. I had to keep going. My parents had always said the Past was behind me, and my future ahead of me. I couldn't look back. We had tried to make a friendship work, but because of our history we couldn't do it. We both wanted to be with each other. But we couldn't take it.

"You have to understand that I can't lose you! And I knew that the Dark Lord suspected something, and if he found out you would have no chance. Neither would I. Please, I love you and you are the most important thing in my world!" The words echoed in the hall ways. I knew what he said was true. If He found out at least one of us would be dead. I stopped running and hung my head. I felt his arms come around me and knew that I was safe exactly where I was.

"I love you too." Was all I had strength to say. I prayed to Merlin that no matter what happened, he would never be on the other side of my wand from me.

His arms tightened around me. "I love you more than you can understand. I have to go, Hermione. My father is waiting for me to join him. I will never give in. I'll find you Hermione. I swear upon the grave of Salazar Slytherin, I will find you and we will be together." He walked away, and I wanted to go with him. For the life of me, I wished I could have. The next day the school was in ruins, Dumbledore was dead, and the Horcrux Harry thought he found was a fake. We weren't coming back to school next year.

-End Flashback-

His gray eyes looked over my face, sadness and regret were prominent in his features. I wanted to go and comfort him, but Harry didn't know what had happened between us almost 6 months ago. I stared at him, amazed that he was still alive. For a moment I took in how he looked. He was very thin and pale, he was always like that but this was a kind of sick look about him. It was like he was too pale, too thin. Something was going on, and I was hoping it was that the Malfoy's repented after seeing how terrible their precious Dark Lord was.

"Granger, I have information regarding the artifacts you seek. I renounce my loyalty to the Dark Lord, and I pledge my allegiance to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I will take an oath, and a vow to help you defeat the Dark Lord. I plead that you spare my life so that I may save many many more by helping you find his Horcruxes." He got right down to business staring past right past me and at Harry. I looked back and Harry looked wary, and seemed very skeptic. We had just lost Ron and now we were in Godric's Hollow looking for something that would help us.

"Give us a moment Malfoy to discuss your fate." Harry said shortly before mumbling the paralyzing spell and dragging me a bit away from Malfoy. "What do you think?" He sounded like he was actually considering taking Malfoy's word and having him help us.

"Well, I have never seen him get straight down to business like that. He is asking to join the Order, and he found us. Also, if we have someone who grew up in the Wizarding World to help us, who also understands the workings of His mind, we might be able to get farther in a shorter amount of time than we originally thought. I think this could actually benefit us and would be really good. What about you?" I asked him, taking in the way he looked. He was seriously considering all that Malfoy had to offer.

"Currently I'm 50/50 myself on him. But if he can help us more than we think he might prove himself useful. He'll be on probation for now, but one slip up, one notion that he's helping the enemy and we have to stoop to their level. We can't have someone running off telling our every move and all our plans. We'll have to kill him if he steps out of line." Harry said looking very sombre. I looked at Harry and nodded.

"It won't come to that, but I understand." I said and turned away without giving Harry a chance to respond. Harry lifted the spell he had placed on Malfoy, while giving me an odd look.

"Alright, Malfoy. We have agreed that you would be an asset to our efforts. So we will let you come with us and help. But for now you will be on probation. Which means that you will be responsible for telling us where to go. We will require you to be bound at all times and you can not go anywhere alone. You will not be allowed to do spells until you have proven yourself totally and completely loyal to us. If you should attempt to contact You-Know-Who or any Death Eater, you will be killed. If we find that you have contacted someone from the other side, you will be killed, and should you try to escape, you will be tortured, then killed. Do you understand?" Harry said, his voice low and dangerous. Malfoy nodded, understanding all of it.

"Your first job as our new 'partner' is to tell us what this symbol means." I asked holding up the Tales of Beedle the Bard book. The triangle like symbol stood out on the front page. Malfoy looked at it, then looked at the book, and smiled.

"That's called the Deathly Hallows. The story of the Three Brothers. The triangle is the Cloak, the line is the wand, and the circle is the Resurrection stone. I heard the Dark Lord was looking for those. But I will tell you those are his plans, but have nothing to do with the Horcruxes." Malfoy said seriously. I looked at him and my mouth formed an 'Oh!' shape as I realized what it meant. That made so much sense. But then I frowned.

"Ok so, where do we go to get the first Horcrux out of the way. We have the locket, but we haven't been able to destroy it." I said quietly getting closer to Malfoy. He smiled at me, he definitely knew something.

"How did you destroy that diary in second year again?" Malfoy asked Harry looking him in the eye. I sighed and told him that we already knew that we could use the sword of Gryffindor to destroy the Horcruxes.

"The only problem is that we don't know where the sword is. Do you have any others? First let's make a checklist of ones we have destroyed already, those we know where they are, and a list of the ones we need to find. So there's the ring, and the diary that have been destroyed. We have the locket, and we know of the Snake and Hufflepuff's Cup. What else is there for us to get? Do you know where any of those are?" I asked Malfoy. We hadn't notice Harry slip away into the graveyard. Malfoy thought about it for a second before answering.

"I know that Bellatrix has the Hufflepuff cup in her vault at Gringotts. And I can get into that. And the snake, Nagini, I think I heard something about her being in Bagshot's house or something. I didn't really understand what he said. And I'm pretty sure that there's a Ravenclaw artifact somewhere in Hogwarts that the Dark Lord hid. That's all he knows about at least, I think." Malfoy said. That's when I realized that Harry was gone. I looked around and found him beside a grave. I walked over to him, dragging Malfoy with me.

Harry sat there staring at the grave of his parents. I felt so bad for him. I felt bad for all of us. Malfoy's parents had parroted him into a belief system that was totally barbaric and crude, and then forced him into a circle of people that killed people for fun. Harry's parents died before he even knew them, and left him with a legacy and fortune that he was much too modest for. And me. I had to wipe my existence from my parents memories, and send them somewhere they'd be safe. Away from me. In a sense we were all orphans in our own way.

I bent down and conjured up a bouquet of roses for their grave. I stepped back and leaned my head against Harry's shoulder. I looked over at Malfoy who looked shocked. I could tell that he hadn't quite understood until today the pain Harry went through. He understood now that Harry had never known his parents and this was the closest he had been to them in almost 16 years. I somehow knew that he finally sympathized with Harry. I reached over and laced my arm through Malfoy's. We stood there for a few moments, standing in peaceful silence in honor for those we had already lost to this war. A tear slid down my cheek, and as I moved to wipe it away, I saw a woman watching us. I nudged Malfoy ever so slightly, and he nodded his head.

"She's been watching us for awhile. Don't make any sudden movements. Something doesn't feel right about her." Harry said quietly, still staring at his parents' names. I got a good look at her out of the corner of my eye, and quickly took in a gasp of air.

"That's Bathilda Bagshot." I whispered quietly. Malfoy stiffened a little and I knew Harry was confused.

"That's where Nagini is." I whispered confirmingly to Harry. He turned his head and looked at me. His eyes were cold, colder than I'd ever seen them.

"Then we follow her, find Nagini and kill her. This ends now. She has killed too many people." Harry whispered to us.

"How exactly are we going to kill her? With the sword of Gryffindor? Wait... Hold on." Malfoy looked as if he had just been given a trillion dollars for Christmas. He whispered something into his left forearm and Harry flipped out. Harry nimbly tackled Malfoy to the ground, the old lady still watching. He made sure his left arm was far away from his mouth. A faint popping sound alerted us to the arrival of someone else.

"What have you done Malfoy? Who have you called here?" Harry whispered furiously. He punched Malfoy in the face, and I prepared for the worst. Suddenly Snape came out from a jumble of brushes. I aimed my wand at him, ready to duel the man who had despised me for seven years. But instead of raising his wand, he actually threw it to the ground and kicked it towards me, then raised his hands.

"I don't mean you any harm." Was all he said. I looked at him, then glanced at Harry, who stood up, one foot still on Malfoy. He glared at Snape, distrust all over his face.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked quietly. He nodded over to the woman watching them and Snape nodded as well.

"I am here to deliver something to you. I had received it shortly after Albus' death, and was given strict instructions to give it to you. Luckily for me, you have enlisted Mr. Malfoy to help you destroy our old friend. He alerted me to the need of this item in your quest and I am here to do my duty. After handing this to you, I will take my wand and return to Hogwarts. If you'll allow me to step forward." Snape said formally. Harry looked skeptical but nodded, allowing the old Potions Professor step forward and reach into his robes.

He stepped forward some more, so that his robes and myself were blocking the older woman from viewing what was being exchanged. It was the Sword of Gryffindor. Harry looked at it, his eyes wide with shock. He looked at Snape who looked sadly at the grave of Lily and James Potter.

"Why are you giving this to me?" Harry asked. Snape turned back to him.

"Because I loved your mother. And I promised I would do anything to protect her. And I promised Dumbledore that I would do whatever it took to destroy your mother's killer. I wanted revenge. She may not have loved me back, but I would have done anything for her." Snape said simply. Harry nodded, dumbstruck that Snape had the sword. "Now, take another step in destroying the killer of your parents. Make him pay for the pain he has caused others." Snape said before swiftly turning around and Apparating away. Harry took the sword, unsure of how this would go. He turned his head and looked at the woman, and knew that he had to do this. There was no backing out. Snape had been right. He had to avenge his parents and destroy He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Harry started walking forwards, abandoning Malfoy on the ground. I helped Malfoy up, and followed Harry hoping that he wouldn't accidentally make a mistake. He wandered over to the woman, I could tell he was unsure of what to do.

"Where is Nagini?" Harry shouted at the woman. She cocked her head, then suddenly her body dissolved there was Nagini, a giant snake that would scare anyone. I jerked back a little, stumbling into Malfoy. He caught me and held onto me tightly. He didn't want me to go anywhere near that thing. I could tell in the way he was holding me. It was a mixture of protection and holding me back from helping Harry. But Harry didn't need help, he saw the body dissolve and quickly swung the sword over his head in an arc, in a matter of moments, Nagini was dead and Harry stood victorious. He looked over his shoulder at me and Malfoy, his eyes sad, but triumphant. "3 down, 4 to go." He said quietly before wiping the blade off on his jeans. He picked his wand up off the ground and shrunk the sword into a manageable size.

And that was the start of our journey. We had no idea then what would happen, how things would end or what the seventh and final Horcrux was. No one had ever told us what we needed to know, Dumbledore had died too soon, and he had not told anyone else how to defeat Voldemort. Sometimes I suspect that he had no idea himself how to kill Voldemort, he had just been winging it the whole time and hoping he was right. But I knew Harry was on the right track. Eventually Voldemort would be dead and Harry would stand victorious over his body. I hoped it would be sooner rather than later.

We sat down in the Graveyard staring at Harry's parent's grave and started planning on where we were going to go next. We had to figure out where the other Horcruxes were and make sure we got them before it was too late. We didn't want the Dark Lord to kill anyone else. Malfoy had warned us of the taboo on His name so we couldn't say it as freely anymore.

"Ok, so we have the locket. And we have destroyed the diary, the ring, and the Snake. Wanna try the sword on the locket? It killed Nagini so perhaps...?" Draco suggested looking between me and Harry. Harry nodded, knowing they had to get this over with sooner rather than later. If they destroyed this, then they would be that much closer to finding the answer.

"I'll open it and you hit it. Whatever happens, you destroy it. Got it?" Draco said looking Harry in the eye. Harry nodded and gripped the sword tighter. Then Harry shook his head. "It can't be opened without speaking ParselTongue. So I have to open it. You destroy it. It might react better to you." Harry said keeping eye contact with Draco. Draco's eyes widened as he realized what Harry was asking of him. How could he do this? What would the locket do to him? He took the sword from Harry and gripped it tightly. He didn't want to screw this up.

I watched with baited breath as they looked at each other, their eyes trying to figure out what was going to come out of the locket once they opened it. I looked back at the past few months. So much had changed and we had all grown up a bunch. I was no longer the bushy haired nerd of Hogwarts, and Harry was well on his way to defeating the Dark Lord. I hoped that our efforts would work, and I hoped that eventually we could go back to things being normal. For once, I wanted a normal life. It had been over 7 years since life had been normal for me. 7 years? Can you believe that? It seems like a few weeks ago we were meeting on the train, and being sorted into Gryffindor. Things were coming to an end.

Harry closed his eyes, and hissed out something. As the locket swung open a dark mass flew above Draco. It started talking to him. It was the Dark Lord's voice. As scared as we all were at hearing His voice, we knew that there was no point being scared. He had no idea that someone was hunting his precious Horcruxes. He couldn't feel it when someone killed a part of him. It started saying things to Draco. Draco swung the sword over his head, cutting it off before it could say anything else. The locket was crushed underneath the force of Draco's hit. Draco glared at the monstrous thing, and we were all thinking the same thing.

"That makes 4 down, 3 to go." Draco said quietly collapsing on the snow. Harry and I joined him and we sat for awhile, contemplating the last few minutes. We had destroyed two Horcruxes and were so close to finishing this. Was it a coincidence that our luck had gotten better once Ron left? I wanted to shake my head at the thought, but something stopped me. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time. It was a good thing Ron had left. We had met someone who had been more intelligent, and much more knowledgeable about goings on in the Death Eater ranks.

"So where to next?" I asked looking into Harry's eyes. I hoped he knew what we would do next.

"Not sure. We still have the Hufflepuff cup. And whatever Ravenclaw thing you were talking about earlier, Malfoy. And then there's the seventh and final one. Any idea what it could be?" Harry asked looking at me. I had an inkling of an idea, but I was really hoping that I wasn't right.

"Well. I have a feeling that when Voldemort attempted to kill you, he left a piece of himself with you. I mean he left the mark and his ParselTongue, it seems to make sense that part of his soul would remain as well." I said quietly staring at my feet. I wasn't sure how Harry would react to that. He remained pretty quiet, he was thinking about everything.

"So does that mean I have to die?" Harry asked quietly. I shrugged my shoulders, unsure of how to answer him. I got up suddenly and brushed the snow off myself. Harry and Malfoy were staring at me, wondering what I was doing.

"Well, let's not waste any time. We should try to get all of this over and done with before more people are hurt and killed. Who knows how many lives we'd save by defeating Voldemort." Hermione said happily. She knew that the first place to look would be either at a Wizarding Library, or Hogwarts itself. They had to find out what Ravenclaw artifact Voldemort had somehow made into a Horcrux. I helped Malfoy and Harry up and we set off for the Leaky Cauldron. What better place to start than Gringotts. Malfoy could get into the Lestrange Vault and get the cup without any problem. They would destroy it and leave it for the Dragon way beneath the main Bank.

* * *

Me and Harry were of course different than normal. For instance We had charmed Harry's hair a light brown, and his eyes a simple brown. His skin became tanner and his form a little more muscular. I charmed my hair a light blonde color, straightened the curls out and made my eyes a dark black.

Me and Harry wore very different clothes than the Muggle clothes we had been walking around in since the Wedding. We knew it was a risk going to Gringotts, to the Malfoy's vault, but it had to be done. And we were in less danger after charming our appearance and going with Malfoy than we were on a normal occasion.

Draco flashed a smile at the Goblin at the front and told him he was Draco Malfoy and was there to get something from his Aunt's vault. The person nodded him through without a doubt. He was nearly identical to his father and no doubt everyone knew who he was without having to tell them.

When we got down to the vault, Draco carefully removed the cup from its place. He had dismissed the Goblin who had led us down here the moment we got here. Draco and Harry took a quick glance around and, signaling that it was safe, they swung the sword and destroyed the fifth Horcrux. I couldn't believe our luck. This was turning out to be much better, I was almost thankful Ron was gone.

* * *

That night we dined, still in our charmed appearances, at the Leaky Cauldron. Draco's Aunt paid for the whole meal, what a generous lady. We couldn't talk about our plans to find the last two Horcruxes here. Too many ears, too public a place. We had to wait til we got to a place we could talk privately. Renting a room was too dangerous, we would probably Apparate to a forest and sleep there.

Its how we had gotten by before and it worked for us. I looked at Harry, wondering if he was thankful that this was almost over. I wondered if, had things been different, how he would have dealt. What if me and Ron hadn't ended up as his friends and instead Malfoy had been his friend at first? I wondered to myself silently as Harry and Malfoy started talking about things like Quidditch. They seemed to be getting along quite nicely.

Suddenly Malfoy tapped my arm, bringing my attention back to him and Harry. "Ready?" I asked looking at the the pair of them. They both nodded and we quickly got up to leave. I left a few knuts and sickles to pay for our drinks and we walked out of the Leaky Cauldron.

For awhile we walked down the street, figuring out silently where we would go. Then Harry grabbed my hand, and I in turn grabbed Malfoy's and we Apparated to some place unknown. Harry immediately started setting up the protective wards, and me and Malfoy assembled the Enchanted Tent. It was late and we all needed rest. It had been a stressful day, and no one wanted to talk about how we were going to do things.

We decided in the morning we would talk about where we would go next. I knew that we had to figure out where the next Horcrux was, and more importantly, what it was. We couldn't decided whether to ask an older witch or wizard or go to someone who might know. The only problem, who would know?

I knew I had to bring up a good idea. "We can't keep charming ourselves and our appearances. There's a possibility that we could be followed by our magical trail, even if we aren't still plagued by the Trace. We need to come up with another way of keeping our true identities hidden." I said starting the conversation off.

"What are you suggesting?" Draco asked, his eyes confused. Harry kind of understood what I was saying, but he wasn't sure, I could tell.

"There's a few Muggle inventions that could seriously save our lives. Hair dye, color contact, spray tan, and, especially for you Harry, make up. A little bit of concealer might hide that scar. And that would be so much easier than charming your hair to cover your eyes. Come on, it might be safer this way. Because magic can't see through Muggle things. I know how to dye hair and it'll be easy." I said, hoping to persuade the two of them.

They barely took it into consideration before agreeing. They said it was a good idea, because any finite incantatum can reveal our charms, but it won't reveal us if we have dyed hair or colored eyes. It was the smart way to go in this war really.

"And another suggestion, is maybe work on other accents. If we get caught by Snatchers we can use another accent and just say we're camping. Some of the other countries aren't entirely aware of what's going on here. The closer countries do, but Australia, and America are not so impacted." I said looking at Draco and Harry in turn.

They both agreed that that would also be a brilliant idea. Saying goodnight to one another we slid into our respective bunks, and attempted to fall asleep.

However that didn't last long when I felt something nudging my arm. I looked over out of the corner of my eye and saw Malfoy crouching beside me, trying to shake me awake. I rolled my eyes, what was so important? And why couldn't he have mentioned five minutes ago?

"Yes?" I asked him, barely moving. I didn't want to alert Harry, or make him freak out for no reason.

"We need to talk. Please, Hermione." Malfoy whispered back. I sighed, a deep sigh, half for the show of trying to sleep, half out of exasperation. Why did we need to talk now of all times?

"Go outside, I'll meet you out there in five minutes." I whispered almost inaudibly. However he got the gist of it and walked outside. I watched Harry and knew he was asleep. He wasn't a very good fake sleeper and I could just tell with the way he breathed and the way his face twitched that he was definitely asleep. I sighed yet again and removed myself from my bunk. I wasn't sure how well this was gonna go, but I knew it needed to happen.

"Yes, Draco?" I asked walking up behind him. He turned around and hugged me. His arms pulling me into a warm embrace. For awhile we just stood there like that. His arms around me, and mine around him. I wanted to know what he was getting at, but I also wanted to stay here and not fight, not argue, not even talk. I didn't want to move from this moment.

"I'll always be here for you. And as much as I want you to be mine, I want you to understand that no matter how long it takes, I will wait for you to be ready. I love you so much. And I don't want to spend another day without you. I'm sorry that I had to leave. But I'll understand if you want to just be friends for now. As long as I'm near you, I don't care." Draco said looking me in the eye. I couldn't help but wonder if I wanted the same thing.

"Draco. I'll be honest with you. Not much has changed since our last conversation about us. I still love you. And I'll always want to be with you. But I don't think that now is the best time. We are hunting Horcruxes and I don't want to have to worry about how Harry will react, how people will react to us being together. I want to wait, until people become more relaxed about the whole ordeal to be together. At least publicly together." I said, hoping he would understand. He nodded smiling.

"Well at least that's a start. We can be together in our hearts, but I can wait until the public calms down for us to be together in the open. I love you Hermione. No matter what happens between now and then, I will always love you." He said. And I knew he meant it. I knew that he also meant that coming with the brunt of the war was a decision he was going to have to make.

He had to choose which side he was fighting for, and the hardest thing was that neither side at this point was going to really want him or show any mercy to him. He knew as well as I did that the next few months were going to be very tough. And because he had come out and helped me and Harry, there was a better chance he was going to be pardoned. A really good chance.

"I love you too." I said quietly before giving him a quick kiss on the lips. I tried to pull away but he held me close, his arms strong and binding. I smiled into the kiss, knowing I had set myself up for it. For a while we stood there kissing. I broke off the kiss and looked him in the eye. "It's late. We should be going to sleep." I said quietly, hoping he would finally let me go. He smiled and nodded. We walked back to the tent, his hand holding mine. This was exactly what I wanted. I went to sleep, happy that things were finally going the way they should be.

* * *

In the morning we agreed that talking to the Lovegood's would be the best idea. We silently Apparated and made our way to their house. It was quite a strange house, but what else would you expect from the Lovegood's? I smiled as I thought about Luna and her strange ways. I missed her dearly. As we knocked on the door we heard a few crashes and bangs and suddenly the door was opened by a very happy looking Mr. Lovegood. He smiled brightly at us, unsure of who we were.

"Hi, Mr. Lovegood? I'm Harry. Harry Potter. We met at Bill and Fleur's wedding. And I was wondering if you could help me with a few things." Harry said stepping forward. Mr. Lovegood held out his hand and shook Harry's hand vigorously. As we passed him he shook both mine and Malfoy's hands quite vigorously and asked us our names. He frowned at Malfoy as he said his name, but I explained that Draco had swore to help us defeat the Dark Lord and was not affiliated with his family anymore. Mr. Lovegood nodded, but still looked at him warily.

"Harry, what is it you need me for?" Mr. Lovegood asked, his eyes bright and shining.

"We wondered if you have any idea about a Ravenclaw artifact? Any artifact at all?" Harry asked. He knew it was a vague question but someone who was so involved in Ravenclaw as Mr. Lovegood was, had to know about things associated with the House.

"Yes. There is one in particular that I'm sure most every Ravenclaw knows about. Ravenclaw's Diadem. No one knows where to find it. They say it's lost. But I have no doubt that someone will find it eventually." He said his eyes gazing dreamily at something else. This was definitely Luna's father. He showed them a few pictures and even a sculpture of it. This was going to be much easier.

Draco said that he thought he might know where it was, but it would have to be the last one. As we left the Lovegood's house Harry looked at the two of us, his eyes cold and sad. I wanted to understand what he was thinking. I wanted to understand what was going through his head, and wanted to make it all better. But I couldn't. Could I? I looked at Malfoy, and it was like they were having a silent conversation between just the two of them.

I was very confused. I didn't want to be left out of any decision making and them talking to one another was not going to bode well with me.

"What are you two doing?" I asked them, stopping and staring at them. They glanced at me and while Harry looked at the ground ashamed, Malfoy stared straight at me. He was afraid of telling me what was going on. Which meant it had nothing to do with Malfoy. He looked back at Harry real quick before turned once again towards me. I wanted to understand. But I had a feeling that it was going to take me awhile to understand exactly what was going on. "Malfoy, you tell me right this minute what is going on." I said starting to get very scared. Was Harry going to do something completely and totally irrational? What were the two boys thinking?

"Hermione, there are two Horcruxes we had no idea about. I think we'll all agree that the Ravenclaw diadem is a good bet of what one of them is. The other one however we're not sure about. The only clue we have is what you suggested it might be. And we need to think about how we're going to go about this if you were right." Harry started. He looked at me. And we both understood what was being said.

If Harry was a Horcrux, then that meant they had treat him like a Horcrux. It made sense. He had parts of Voldemort inside of him. He had the link with the scar, and the ParselTongue. If Harry was the last Horcrux, that meant that they had to kill him. I looked at him, hoping to God that he wasn't really considering this. How could he consider this? How could Harry allow himself to think this way? This would mean the end of it for all of them! Harry would die and no one would be left to vanquish the Dark Lord. This was terrible.

"But Harry. If you kill yourself to destroy the Horcrux, who will vanquish You-Know-Who? Who will be there to defeat him? We can't do this without you!" I freaked out at Harry. He looked down at the ground, knowing exactly what this was doing to me. Draco nearly refused to look me in the eye. I wasn't sure how this was all going to end. He came forward and engulfed me in a hug. We stood there for god knows how long before he said something.

"You are the smartest witch of our age. And Malfoy has always been second best in class. I know that between the two of you there is no doubt you will at least kill Voldemort. You are so brave and intelligent. I hope you know that no matter what happens I will always love you like the sister I never had. Please, just understand that i know what I'm doing. It makes sense that a part of him would go into me and if you could see it the way I see it, you would think it was a good plan. Please just know that you are my best friend. And also, follow your heart. I know that may not make much sense, but think about it and you'll understand." Harry said holding my shoulders. Even without thinking about it, it made a lot more sense than it probably should have.

"Hey, Scarface, don't be saying your goodbyes now. You still got a few things left to do before you commit suicide. Come on, let's go get people rounded up and back up on our side." Malfoy said stepping between the two of us. I smiled weakly, holding back the tears threatening to slide down my cheeks. I didn't want Malfoy to see me cry. Probably for what might be the twentieth time, but still.

We all Apparated to a forest, hoping to maybe hide away and get some rest. We weren't sure whether we were still being looked for or not, but we didn't want to take any chances. With Harry there was almost no doubt that we would be hunted no matter what day of the week it was. They slept peacefully that night. They didn't have to worry about how they were going to survive the next few days, or what they were going to do to destroy You-Know-Who. However I tossed and turned with bad dreams. I couldn't help but feel something bad was going to happen.

* * *

When we woke up in the morning I tried to stay as quiet as possible. I was listening outside, and I swore I could hear someone talking. Or something moving about. Draco saw the way I was acting and suddenly got very nervous.

"Mione. What are you doing?" He asked me quietly as I randomly stopped in the middle of the tent.

"I hear something outside." I said quietly. Suddenly, the noise was gone, and I felt I could calm down a bit. Draco told me to stay put and went outside to investigate the noises outside, but being the stubborn person I was, I followed. My mistake.

Outside were a bunch of Death Eaters and Snatchers, all of which had their wands pointed at us.

"Who are you and what are your names?" It was Bellatrix. I silently thanked Merlin for the preparations we had built up. It is amazing what haircuts, hair dye, and color contacts can do to people. Harry was now a dirty blonde with dark blue eyes, my hair was dark brown with green tips and I had hazel nut eyes. And Malfoy had nearly black hair with eyes just as dark.

They didn't recognize us. I was thankful for that at least.

"I'm Emily Weinberg, this is Elliot Wulff and Ryan Jones. We're just here camping. Is there a problem." I had made sure that if we had been found, we had nearly perfect American accents. Usually the English didn't care about Americans and what they did.

All of us, looked at them, we didn't hide the fact that we were wizards. We knew that we would have a better chance if we were wizards instead of muggles.

"Have you seen this kid around anywhere?" Bellatrix shoved a paper in my face, and I saw mine and Harry's faces in the front. And Malfoy's face beneath ours.

"Nope. Why are they in trouble?" I asked innocently. I was legitimately curious as to what stupid story they had cooked up about us.

"Well the girl and the dark haired kid kidnapped the blondie and then are threatening to kill a whole bunch of Ministry officials. We need to find them quickly before they kill anyone else. They've already killed a few people and they're very dangerous." Bellatrix said, already sounding bored.

She looked a few more times at Harry, but with a bit of coverup, his scar was completely gone. We didn't know why we hadn't thought of it before, it would have been so much easier.

"Well, you'll be the first to know if we see 'em, right?" Draco reassured them, his accent flawless New Yorker. I had gone with the more Southern approach, and Harry with SoCal surfer. It worked for him, what with the dirty blonde hair and all.

They were totally believing us. They left us in peace a few moments later. And we were alone again.

"Hermione, you are freaking brilliant. They totally didn't recognize us, you brilliant woman!" Draco said hugging me tightly. He looked like he was about ready to kiss me. Which I wouldn't have minded... entirely.

Harry also gave me a hug, and we realized that we needed to keep moving. We had to get to Hogwarts and find the last Horcrux. I wanted to get this over with and continue on with my life.

As I lay in bed, thinking about the next week was pretty much gonna go, I was a little concerned. It was possible that I would lose my best friends, the man I secretly loved, the people I had called my family for years, and everyone I knew. It was also very possible that we would encounter Voldemort and vanquish him as we planned and we would win this.

I was really hoping that we would win this.

* * *

There was a million things running through my mind as we ran from place to place. We were hiding out in Hogsmeade and trying to make our way to the Castle. We couldn't use Draco much to our advantage because his disappearance was now out in the open. But we were still trying to figure out a way. We hid out in the Hog's Head, and we really hoped we would be able to figure something out in there.

I thought there was something oddly familiar about the bartender, but I couldn't put my finger on it. I just felt like I had seen him somewhere, especially with those piercing blue eyes of his. I couldn't help but stare.

"Emily, what are you staring at?" Draco or Elliot asked me. I nodded towards the bartender, and Harry or Ryan looked towards him. He looked back at me confused.

"His eyes." Was all he whispered back to me. And I nodded back. We had both noticed something familiar about the man's blue eyes.

"They're like Dumbledore's." Was all Draco said to me. And that's when I remembered. I had been in a bookstore, waiting for Harry and Ron at Fred and George's shop towards the end of the summer, when I saw a book about Dumbledore. I had thumbed through it and found he had a brother named Aberforth. That's how the eyes are familiar.

I quickly waved the bartender over to a corner, and he, thankfully, followed. I don't know why but I knew I could trust him, there was a glint in his eyes that made me want to trust him. "I need your help, but I'm not entirely sure whether I can trust you or not." I said quietly. He smiled kindly at me.

"Are you from Hogwarts?" Was all he asked, and I nodded my head, hoping that was good.

"I've got a friend in there, name of Neville." And that's all it took. Neville knew who to be friends with.

"My name is Hermione Granger, and I'm with Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, who by the way joined us of his own accord. And we were hoping that you might be able to help get us into Hogwarts. We have something there that we need to get. If we don't destroy this, we can't defeat... You-Know-Who." I said quietly, whispering in his ear. He nodded and quickly took a small golden coin out of his pocket and pressing it, he whispered into it, waited a little bit, then whispered some more.

He excused himself and went upstairs, saying he would be back momentarily. I walked back to my seat next to Draco and Harry. I thought about calling them by their cover names more, but I realized in my mind it was just too confusing.

"What just happened?" Draco asked me, looking quite concerned for me. I shrugged and whispered that I'd tell them later. And for a little bit we continued to sit there and drink our butterbeer, or in Draco's case, firewhiskey. How he could swallow that stuff down was beyond me. I had never had it before, but according to Harry and Ron, it tasted disgusting.

Ron. It had been awhile since I had seen him. Well... it had been a little over two weeks. Two weeks and we were nearly done with something that had taken us almost six months longer with Ron. Ron had slowed us down quite a bit. What with his splinching, and us not knowing where to go next. But when Draco had come along things had changed.

Suddenly Aberforth was back, and this time Neville was with him. I ran forwards and hugged Neville, nearly crying with relief.

"Hermione! Harry? And don't tell me that's Ron?" Neville said identifying me, but having troubles with the other two.

"No, that's Harry, and that's Draco. But oh my, am I glad to see you! How are you doing? How is Hogwarts with Snape being headmaster?" I asked hoping everyone was rebelling against him.

"Not good. He's brought in Death Eaters to keep things straight, but they're not nice at all. We're now learning the Dark Arts, and anyone who has any connection to you three... well you, Harry, and Ron... is beaten. Ginny always has cuts and bruises, Luna is pretty badly beat up. It got worse during winter break. All of us would have left, but we were forced to stay here. They said that you had kidnapped Draco. Which I guess they weren't lying about. But Snape got better once the break was over, he lightened up, but only slightly." Neville said as he led us towards where he had come from.

"Well, Draco joined of his own accord. And Snape got better because he helped us. He can't be as mean anymore cause he's on our side. But he can't let You-Know-Who aware of that. Neville, we are so sorry that this has been going on. Merlin, if I had known earlier..." I started, but Neville cut me off.

"It wouldn't have changed anything. You're here now, and I hope you've destroyed all the Horcruxes?" Neville asked looking between me and Harry.

"Almost. We still have one more, and we know that one's in Hogwarts." I said quietly.

"Two more, Emily." Harry said behind me.

"Emily?" Neville asked looking at me.

"Its our cover names. My name is Emily Weinberg, Harry is Ryan Jones, and Draco is Elliot Wulff."

"I am one of the Horcruxes. I will be the last to be destroyed. Wait where's the sword?" Harry said looking at me. I gasped and dug around in my purse looking for the sword, but I couldn't find it.

"It's not here." I said feeling desperate.

"Don't worry. It doesn't matter. Neville, once I am dead, you have to kill him. Do you understand? He will be mortal, and as long as you're brave enough, which I know you are, you can kill him and save everyone before too many people die. You got it?" Harry said looking Neville in the eye. I remembered the prophecy Harry had told us about. I remember him telling me that it was either him or Neville that it had been talking about and he still wasn't sure which one it meant still.

"I understand, Harry." Neville said nodding.

"If you can, try and get the sword. But a Killing curse from behind will do the trick as well. If we do this right, he won't be expecting it. But make sure you have back up, especially if he's surrounded by Death Eaters." Harry said, hoping that Neville was actually listening. Neville nodded, then looked back at Aberforth. They seemed to have a conversation with their eyes. In the end, Aberforth nodded and closed the door behind us.

We walked down the tunnel, leading us to Hogwarts. And thats when I remembered that we had not checked if this was actually Neville.

"Neville. In first year, you stood up to me, Ron and Harry. What happened?"

"You Body Binded me, and went off to go get the Sorcerer's Stone."

"Alright, I just remembered we hadn't made sure you were you." Neville nodded totally understanding of the situation.

"Alright, so we need to hurry to the Room of Requirement, and try to find that Diadem. If we can find it and destroy it before anyone realizes we're here that would be good. Cause then we can hide out in some dorm room and make a plan of attack." Harry said as he walked between me and Neville. Draco was on my other side, casually grazing my hand every few seconds.

"Well, if we don't have a sword, how are we going to destroy it?" Draco asked. For a moment we were all stumped. Then I knew the answer.

"The Chamber of Secrets! Harry you go down and open the passageway and get a basilisk fang, then me and Draco will go and find the Diadem we'll meet up with you in the Gryffindor common room. OK?" I said hoping this new plan was better.

"Alright. Hold on." Neville took out the golden coin, and I realized that they had copied the DA's communication technique and were using it for their own use. He whispered into it when it glowed blue. He whispered something else and put it in his pocket.

"It took four Order members to recreate the coin. But this time we have it so if we whisper into it, it goes to a certain person. Then we can talk back and forth with each other through the coin. Everyone's is personalized. It's pretty cool. Kind of like that Muggle invention you once told me about, Hermione. A phone, was it?" He asked looking at me. I nodded and thought it was absolutely amazing.

"So what did you just do?" I asked him, feeling slightly uneasy.

"Oh, well, Aberforth was going to alert the Order to your presence at Hogwarts. We've been trying to find you for months. But no avail. And now you're here, so we can start keeping track of you guys. But he was gonna call them, cause it sounded like this was gonna be it. But you have other plans, so this is good. He now knows our plan and he'll start gathering the Order members in his pub, and he'll hide them upstairs. And eventually they'll all be here to help us when we need their help." Neville said. He sounded so calm. How on earth was he so calm?

"Ok. That's cool." Harry said smiling and nodding. We finalized the plan then made sure that we knew the Password to the commone room. And then I handed Harry his cloak, Neville said that we were close to the Room of Requirement and that it would be no problem to sneak in there then over to the common room. He promised to help us. It wasn't like we had to keep quiet or anything, because it was the middle of the day, and there was no doubt people would be about. Neville himself had no classes to go to.

When we finally got to the castle, we stepped out in the middle of a passing period. No one looked twice at us. Me, Draco and Neville went towards the Room of Requirement and Harry went off towards the Second floor Girl's bathroom.

I looked at Draco, knowing he knew better what to ask for then me. "I'm asking for the room of all lost things." That was where Harry had hidden the Potions Book the previous year. I nodded, and watched Draco pace back and forth. Me and Neville kept watch, but nothing happened. We slipped quietly into the room and found a very large room filled to the brim with various objects.

Draco immediately started towards an old cupboard looking thing and before I could stop him, he summoned an axe from across the room and started to break it apart.

"Draco?" I asked when he was done.

"That was one way the Death Eaters had in. Now it's gone. They will hopefully have a harder time of getting here now." He sounded distant. I held his hand as we looked at the broken cupboard.

Then we started looking. I quickly tried summoning the diadem, but that did nothing. Absolutely nothing.

It felt like hours had passed before Neville cried out to the two of us. We raced around the piles of crap and found him. He was holding a small silver crown. It was the diadem. Ravenclaw's Diadem. It was what Mr. Lovegood had had in his house. This was definitely it. I smiled at Neville and hugged him. This was amazing. The last two weeks had been such an amazing time, and much more what I thought this would be like.

We made our way back to the Gryffindor Common Room. How long had it been since I was last there? Almost a year I would guess. We walked into the Common room, and Ginny was sitting down near the fire, doing her homework vigorously. Apparently, if you didn't do your homework it wasn't good.

"GINNY!" I squealed running to hug her. She was confused for a minute, and stood up trying to get away from me.

"It's me Hermione!" She relaxed and hugged me back.

"I got a letter from mum, Ron went back home. But apparently you guys weren't with him. What happened? And that's not Harry." Ginny said.

"Shh. No ok from now on I'm Emily. This is Elliot and your boyfriend is Ryan. But don't worry. It wasn't working out with Ron. Elliot here joined us soon after he left and we're almost down. All we need to do is destroy this, and do something else, and then we can destroy him." Hermione said quietly sitting down near Hermione.

"That's fantastic. But who is Elliot really? Don't tell me..." She said looking at Elliot.

"Yes, it's the ferret. But don't worry. He's a good guy now." I said looking at Elliot. We exchanged smiles and a small agreement passed between our eyes.

_If we make it out of this, nothing will ever come between us._

Suddenly Ryan walked in with a basilisk tooth. "Alright, let's get this over with." He said. Elliot put the diadem on the floor and Ryan handed me the fang. I quickly destroyed the diadem, wrecking it with the tooth. It was kind of hard, but it worked nonetheless.

Ryan collapsed on a chair, thankful that it was now done. He sat there with his eyes closed and just breathed for a second.

"Alright. Now let's start planning." Neville said quietly sitting down near the rest of us. We got close and started making a plan.

We would knock out the Death Eaters at the school, and get Snape on our side. Then we would get the Order in here to protect the school and the kids and whoever fought for our side would stay out and fight against those who wouldn't fight with us. It was going to be bloody, but hopefully we would win. We knew it was a long shot, but we still had hope. We had many good fighters on our side, and we hoped that soon this would all be behind us.

Eventually Harry, or Ryan as we were now offically calling him, told us all to go down and get food. There were so many kids at this school no one would notice if three more kids were there than normal. We went down in a large group and ate quietly. Then we went back upstairs and sat in the common room, waiting until it was empty of innocents.

Suddenly there was only the kids that were without a doubt on our side. Neville 'coined' McGonagall who joined us and congratulated me, Harry, and Draco on our success at destroying the Horcruxes and not getting caught by Snatchers.

Neville and McGonagall sat down and they discussed the plans we had come up with and she agreed. Neville made the call to Aberforth who circulated the plan to the Order, the entirety of which was ready and waiting at the pub. They made moves to be at the Hogwarts entrance soon, and then it would start. The battle, the end. I looked at Draco and jerked my head towards the hallway. He nodded and we made our way to the hallway outside the common room.

"So this is it. In a few hours, we'll be fighting to the death out there." I said looking at him. He nodded, and looked away quickly.

"I don't think I'm strong enough." He said quietly. I was confused. Of course he was.

"Of course you are! You're second in our class. And you know more spells than I do! You are more than strong enough." I said trying to get him to look at me.

"I don't mean physically strong enough. I know I'm strong enough to do this. But I don't think I'm strong enough emotionally. I don't want to lose you, Hermione." He said quietly. I opened my mouth, but quickly closed it. I walked over towards him and hugged him.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." I whispered to him. He hugged me back tightly, hoping that the harder he hugged me the more I was gonna stay there.

"Let's go back and see if they want us to get take down the Death Eaters here. That will be fun, right?" I asked trying to him to smile. He chuckled and nodded.

"Hey, so, do you want me and Emily to go and take down the Death Eaters here?" Draco asked as the the Portrait swung safely back behind us.

"Yes, that would be wonderful. I'll call them over here and you two can ambush them." McGonagall said. She almost sounded gleeful at the thought of them being hurt and possibly disappearing. We all laughed, and me and Draco went to go wait outside for them. Within a matter of minutes we saw two Death Eaters round the corner and a quick battle between us ensued. It ended so fast the Death Eaters had no idea what hit them. But they lay on the floor, unconscious and bruised.

We made our way back into the Dormitories and informed them of our success.

* * *

It was the middle of the fight before I saw Draco again. The Death Eaters had arrived quickly, as did You-Know-Who, and the Order members followed close behind. Everyone was here, including a few Ministry officials. More and more people were arriving for our side, and we were defeating those on his side quicker than he liked apparently. Mrs. Weasley had brought all of her sons with her to the fight. And they were a formidable group.

The Weasley's stunned all their victims, not wanting to kill anyone in case they got lifetime in Azkaban. Which they most likely were. Ron and a few other helpless beings started making piles of Death Eaters, and made sure no one woke up. We fought our hardest and Draco kept trying to stay near me so that I wouldn't die without him killing my killer. He was prepared to do the Killing Curse if it meant avenging me, apparently.

I looked over to the last place I had seen Harry and I saw him kiss and hold Ginny before walking off. I nudged Draco a little and he grunted in acknowledgement. We were standing back to back and fighting our hardest. This was actually quite fun. Or so I thought. Draco didn't seem to be having as much fun as I was.

We made our way to where Harry had disappeared from and started following him. We were the back up plan. We knew that he had told Neville to kill Voldemort when the time was right, and we had made sure Neville was there when Harry died. The thing I forgot to say was that Voldemort had told Harry that he had someone he cared about very much and that person would die if Harry didn't meet him out by the lake. Harry didn't know who he had, but he couldn't risk it.

Harry was about to sacrifice himself. We were kicking ass though, and we didn't know why Voldemort was making stupid requests like this. He must have known that he was outnumbered and his numbers were dwindling much too quickly.

Me and Draco stood fighting at the entrance to Hogwarts, unable to get past. We saw Harry and Voldemort dueling, we saw Neville hiding with his wand, waiting for the moment Harry fell. It was sad, but we had all dealt with his death hours before.

-Flashback-

While we waited for the Order to arrive, Harry got up in front of everyone and told them that he would not make it to see the daylight. He explained to everyone that tonight was going to be his last night, and that he would die tomorrow so that we all could live. Everyone had so many questions to ask.

Everyone wanted to know why he would think something like that? And why he would just let himself die? But Harry had to explain that he was the Last Horcrux. He was the one they were waiting on. And while he fell, Neville would take down the Dark Lord and vanquish him where he stood. Everyone was silent for a bit. But then came the celebration. We all silently agreed that we shouldn't sit around and mourn Harry's death. We should celebrate life, and the end of the Dark Lord. It was within view and we all had hope that he would die and never rise again.

And while Harry approved of the celebration instead of a mourning, he kept looking at Ginny with sadness in his eyes. I knew that he loved Ginny with more than any of us ever really realized. And he was losing her. And he was putting her through this. I wanted to push them both upstairs, so that they could at least enjoy one night before things changed.

But I didn't actually have to push. Harry did it all on his own.

Draco came up behind me and whispered sweet nothings in my ear as we watched Harry and Ginny disappear into Ginny's dorm room. I had no doubt that McGonagall understood and was just turning a blind eye to their disappearance. She eventually excused herself so that she could go and get the other teachers, and Neville went to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff to get the people there who would fight on their side.

Me and Draco sat there, in the common room, talking with our friends. And I knew right then and there, that in a few hours I would be crying. There would loved ones dead, and students who had not even started to live would be lying dead for a fight that was not theirs to fight. I knew that there would be bodies littering the floor. I wondered what would become of the Slytherins. Would they fight with the rest of the students? Or would they fight with the Death Eaters? Would they be completely unaware of the war going on outside their dorm rooms?

I looked into Draco's eyes and forgot everything. This was it, though. We had a few hours, and who knew whether any of us would live to see the light of day?

-End Flashback-

And now we waited. We waited for what we all knew would come. It didn't take long. Within a matter of moments, Harry fell and the Death Eaters near Voldemort surrounded his body, all waiting for someone to confirm his death. I started to cry and fought harder. I was not born into this world, I was not born into this war and I most certainly would not die for this war. I was going to live and carry on when those around me fell.

I would carry on and live when those younger than me, weaker than me, and less brave then me would fall or flee. And when the dust cleared I would be standing victorious even if I was the last of my side. I would stand victorious because I was the brightest witch of my age, best friend to Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy's love, and I was a muggleborn. I was better than any Death Eater in Voldemorts ranks and we all knew it.

I screamed in rage and fury and fought against those bastards who sought to destroy me and my kind. I used the Killing Curse, tired of seeing it kill my side and none kill them. I would kill them until none remained. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Hagrid carrying Harry's body towards the castle. I saw Neville stand and yell. And I saw people gather behind Neville.

I ended my fight and went to stand behind Neville. I wasn't going to let this bastard destroy all that I had done, destroy my life and the lives of all I loved. I felt Draco stand beside me and I saw the sneers he was given by the Death Eaters. They were disgusted by him for joining with our side. Then in plain sight of his father he took my hand and kissed it.

If we lost this fight, he would die. And I knew it. He would die and I would die. But I didn't care. I loved him, and he loved me and this was our fight now. Harry was gone and this was our fight to fight.

"You shall not harm anyone in this Castle anymore! Your reign of terror is over." Neville yelled above the din of fighting still inside the castle. Voldemort chuckled and attempted to throw spells at us, but no matter what happened, he could never hit us. Then I realized it. Harry had sacrificed himself to save us. He hadn't done it because he was supposed to, he did it cause he didn't want anyone to get harmed while he was safe. He did what his mother had done 17 years ago. We were protected, and not even the Killing Curse could do anything to us now.

"Neville. You know what to do." I whispered in his ear. He nodded and out of nowhere pulled out the Sword of Gryffindor. I smiled. He was brave.

"What are you going to do with a sword, boy?" Voldemort asked his eyes mocking us.

"The sword is just for show, you useless reptile." Draco hissed from beside me.

"Young Malfoy. Aren't you supposed to be dead? Shouldn't Harry Potter have killed you?"

"No. I begged for forgiveness from him then helped him and my girlfriend here destroy your precious horcruxes. Harry was the last one. You're mortal, now Voldie." Draco said mockingly.

"Avada Kedavra!" Harry screamed as Voldemort stood perplexed. No one had been expecting it. No one jumped in front of him to save him. Everyone watched as he fell lifeless to the ground. Spells flew everywhere as we dealt with the last remaining Death Eaters.

Everyone ran to Harry, no one expected him to be alive. He told us about how there had been Voldemort's soul, and his soul. And Voldemort had killed his own soul. Meaning Harry's remained in him.

We all trekked inside, all of us scared to see who was dead, who was hurt, and who was missing.

Lupin was gravely injured, and Tonks remained at his side the entire time. Fred had lots of cuts and bruises and Snape had been a victim of Sectumsempra. For the most part everyone was bruised and bloodied, and only a few were dead. Because of my rage, there were at least twenty dead Death Eaters and about forty waiting for trial.

On our side there were only 7 dead. Which was really good considering how many could have been killed. Harry at first ran around trying to find Ginny, but when he didn't see her, he started to panic. He got all worked up and started screaming for her, running up and down the halls looking for her.

Finally he found her, lying in a pool of blood in the middle of a hallway. Just about the time he found her, Ron found her as well. Harry was there at her side in an instant, picking her up and carrying her to Madame Pomfrey.

"Harry, mate, I'm real sorry I abandoned you and Hermione. I guess you guys had better luck with just the two of you. I'm hoping she'll take me back. Do you think she will?" Apparently Harry didn't answer because when they got back to the main hall, Ron went to find me.

"Hermione, I'm really sorry about abandoning you and Harry. If I had known how close you two were to finding the other Horcruxes I would have stuck around. I love you soo much Hermione. Please forgive me?" He asked holding my hands. I flung my hands away from him.

"Don't you dare touch me, Ronald. You left us, and abandoned us. You just ran off without another word and you had me and Harry worried sick that you might get caught." I screamed at him. No one was paying us much attention. You could barely hear me above the noise in the Great Hall anyway.

"I'm sorry, 'Mione! I was worried sick about you too! I promise I won't ever run out on you again. Now please forgive me?" He said begging me now.

"Hermione, I need to talk to you. Or my mum needs to talk to you." Draco said, placing a hand on the small of my back.

"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER FERRET!" Ron screamed at Draco. I slapped Ron.

"Don't you dare tell Draco what to do. You are immature and think you can just get me back. Well I've got news for you Ronald Weasley, I've moved on. And you don't get to get me back. Who do you think you are? Some buff man who's smooth and gets whoever the hell he wants? Well think again, Ronald." I screamed at him. He looked at me then at Draco.

"So it's Draco now?" He said with that 'attempting-to-be-threatening' voice.

"Yes, and he's also my boyfriend. And has been since beginning of sixth year. Now excuse me, I must go talk with Narcissa." I walked off, annoyed with the loser already.

How I ever put up with him before was beyond me. I couldn't believe that it was over now. I couldn't believe that we could finally have a normal life. Or as normal as it would ever get.

When I walked over to Narcissa she smiled at me and held my hands. "Hermione! I have heard so much about you from Draco. I had no idea how in love with you he was until recently, but my god, he was right! You are absolutely beautiful." She said touching my face. I was glad that she was fine. We hadn't met before, but because of all the times Draco had talked about his mother it seemed like she already knew her.

"So what are your Draco's plans now that this war is over?" Narcissa asked, hoping that it was going to be a happy ending.

"Well I was thinking about convincing her to marry me some day soon." Draco said coming up behind me.

"Oh, how wonderful! I can't wait for this! I've always wanted to plan a wedding. I hope you don't mind if I help you plan?" Narcissa asked looking at me. I shook my head.

"Please. I would be helpless without your help most likely." Narcissa looked happy about this. But she soon frowned, looking over Hermione's shoulder.

It was Ron. He looked a little helpless and very confused.

"Can you just explain one thing to me. When did all this happen? When did you and Malfoy?" He sounded sad, and small. It was like he had just found out something absolutely terrible.

For a moment I had to think about the question, thinking about how I was going to answer this. I had to take every thing into consideration and tried my hardest to come up with a proper answer for Ron. The old him really deserved to know the truth. She looked at Draco, and almost immediately saw the line she should say. She had heard it once, in a movie, and it had explained everything.

And she knew it was perfect for this exact moment. It was nearly the same thing, too. Hermione smiled, as she stared into Draco's eyes. She was going to make him watch that movie as soon as they got to her house. It was a must see movie.

"You asked me when we fell in love? Well it was... while you were running."


	22. Recovery or Morgue

**A/N: Alright so the inspiration for this came from the latest episode of Combat Hospital. I just watched it. SOO romantic. :) anyway. It's definitely not exactly like the episode, obviously, however it has the same basic principles to it... kind of. Hope you enjoy it! I plan on updating a few more times before going completely off the map. College starts in a few weeks and I'm not sure what kind of time I'll have. I register for classes this friday! Wish me luck! REVIEW please! :D**

**Recovery or Morgue**

Seamus Finnigan barely glanced up from the chart he was looking over as he walked down the hall he was supposed to be doing rounds on. He looked in on the first door and saw Mrs. Higgins, the old woman he had cured yesterday and was just getting some rest. The next door revealed Mr. Gregor, who was in a coma and had been for the last 2 centuries. The third door was Gina Torlani, a woman who was being treated by another Healer. He looked at the chart in his hands, unsure of what to do now. Hannah Borelli had passed away last night from a disease the Healers weren't able to cure in time. Now Seamus had her charts in his hands, and her recent death fresh on his mind.

Seamus shook off the memory of her final moments and put the chart away. He would deal with paperwork later. He didn't have time right now to look at all the paperwork and sort it all out. He had bigger things to do.

Suddenly, Healers were running, but no one was really talking about anything. Then he heard it. The slight wailing shriek of the Wizard version of an ambulance. Seamus followed the other Healers down to the Trauma ward. It was very likely they were going to need all the help they could get. He saw two other Healers his rank standing near the entrance. He made his way over to them. They would fill him in on his duties.

"There was an explosion. At a wedding. Multiple people were injured, only 3 deaths. No known plan of attack." Healer Granger said quickly as Seamus sidled up next to her. She was one of the best trauma surgeons around. And the doctor standing next to her was an arrogant dick. However he was an extremely good doctor and had every right to be arrogant.

The doors to the Trauma ward were thrown open and the medics rushed in with the patients. Granger took one and followed it to the surgery room. Whoever it was, he looked horrible. For him, it was surgery or death. Seamus found a patient for himself and started working. He quickly started healing people, and fixing them up, and eventually the madness of the Trauma ward went down. The healed sat in the waiting room, waiting for something.

Seamus walked into the surgery room, hoping that Granger had something for him to do.

He saw it was the groom on the table. Harry Potter.

"Hermione..." Seamus said stepping towards his friend. She grunted quietly, she was too concentrated on what she was doing to look up.

"Are you doing ok? You need me to do anything?" Seamus asked.

"I need to tell you some stuff. He was muttering it before he went under and I need to tell you so that I have someone else to help me." Hermione said as she worked. She wasn't going very fast, but Seamus knew that she was doing a damn good job on this surgery. Harry wasn't going to have a single scar after this.

"You can tell me anything Hermione."

"Remember two years ago, when Ron died? You remember how Harry wasn't as distraught as everyone thought he should have been? Ron had cheated on me. Harry was the only one who'd known. He had cheated on me with Lavendar Brown. And it wasn't a small affair thing either. It had been going on for three years. Harry had confronted Ron and they had had an argument a few weeks before the accident. Ron and Harry hadn't been best friends since they graduated from Hogwarts. But at that moment, they stopped being friends all together. Harry started seeing how bad a person Ron was. When Ron died, neither me nor Harry cried. We weren't happy that he was gone, but he got what he deserved."

Seamus listened to Hermione's story, hoping that this actually had something to do with what was going on right now. While he didn't mind relieving the past, Ron's death hadn't been a very sad experience for anyone. But it wasn't happy either. Towards the end no one had liked Ron. Seamus had known that Lavendar was cheating on him with Ron, but he didn't want that to get in the way of their relationship. She could do what she wanted with Ron, but everyone who knew the two men, knew that Ron was nothing in comparison to Seamus.

"Over the last two years, Harry and Draco Malfoy have become closer together. Draco is Harry's best man. I was about to leave for the wedding. I haven't seen or heard anything about Draco since the explosion. Please, Seamus. Find Draco. Find him and make sure he's ok." Seamus nodded. It hadn't been a secret that Hermione and Draco were in each other's favor. Seamus even heard from the aforementioned arrogant prick, that Draco and Hermione had an understanding with one another.

Seamus knew how much Draco meant to Hermione. Even just as friends, Draco was good to Hermione. Seamus walked up to one of the nurse's hoping she would have the answer.

She knew nothing, but Seamus was determined to find the Best Man. He walked out into the waiting room. "Is there a Draco Malfoy?" He asked out loud, and one person stood up. Every one knew that this wasn't Draco Malfoy. The fact that it was a girl gave it away.

"I haven't seen him since the explosion. How's the groom?"

"He's in surgery right now, our best surgeon is working on him and we'll have him right in no time." Seamus said before getting out of there. He had to find someone who knew where Draco was. He found one of the medics, they would surely know where he was.

"Draco Malfoy? No... haven't seen him. But let me clear something up with you. I dealt with all the dead bodies today, and he definitely wasn't among them. So at least he was alive when he left the wedding." The medic said, her Scottish tones hopeful. Seamus nodded and walked back towards the Hospital. When he found Hermione again, she was done with surgery and sitting on a bench in the middle of the hall.

"Any luck?" She asked not looking up.

"Sorry, love. Couldn't find Draco. But I asked the medic, and she says he's not among the dead bodies. So he's still alive. Don't worry we'll find him."

Hermione nodded and watched Seamus leave. She tried to remember why she had stayed at the hospital. What made her not go to the wedding when she was supposed to? Hermione put her head in her hands, then remembered one thing.

Seamus would have checked with the nurses, and the waiting room, and the medics because that made sense to him. He hated Healer Zabini. Blaise was the best doctor around and, sure he acted like an arrogant jerk, but he was still loyal to his friends and nice to those who deserved it.

Seamus would never have checked with the other surgeries, because he, like Hermione, had gotten straight to work and didn't pay attention to who had gone to surgery. The only other surgeon on call right now was Blaise, and Seamus hated him and wouldn't have even thought of going to see him. Hermione rushed off towards the other surgery room, hoping that Blaise had some idea.

Blaise would have had the intelligence and the loyalty to save his friend first then worry about the others later. Blaise would have been drawn to the unconscious body of Draco Malfoy. They had been nearly brothers since birth and would be drawn to Draco. Hermione found herself at the door to the surgery room, out of breath and her eyes wild. She was on the outside staring in, and hoping that whatever she wanted lay behind those doors.

She slowly walked in, unsure of whether she actually wanted to know or not. She didn't want to find out that no one had any clue where Draco was. And she didn't want to be told that he didn't make it through the surgery. But she did want to know whether he had been found or not.

"Yes Miss Granger?" Blaise asked not looking up from his surgery.

"Draco?" It was all that was needed to be said. Blaise knew what she wanted. She knew he would have her answer with one simple word.

She knew there was two words he could say. One of two words.

Recovery.

or Morgue.

She saw him look up slightly. She wasn't completely sure what he was going to say. She closed her eyes, preparing for the worst.

"479."


	23. Tell Me, Answer Me

**A/N: Ok, so I just wrote and wrote, the first part is from another chapter of another story. Its like 2 in the morning and I just had to make sure to update all my stories. So here is this. Hope you like it. It's quite a bit darker than my normal brand of writing. Just beware. It's kinda upsetting. **

**Just so you guys aren't worrying, nothing that happens in this one shot has happened to me. I'm just warning you so that you don't think somethings wrong. I don't know if any of you know this, but I generally take from real life when i write these one shots. This is just where my mind took me. **

**Tell Me, Answer Me**

It was morning. Dew was sprinkled lightly over the ground, and a soft yellowish glow emanated from the horizon. With the morning came a new day. To some it brought new hope, a new light to the dark world they had lived in for months. To others it was just another dark morning, with hope fading fast. It all depended what side you were on. As the sun rose slowly beyond a meadow, three dark figures darted across the field, their dark black cloaks barely touching the ground as they skillfully ran.

The first one held out their arm, stopping the other two in their tracks. They had come to the edge of what seemed like a grove. They slipped silently into the shadows of the trees, one by one fading away from the sight of any who had seen them. The first one looked over the way they had came, making sure no one had followed them. They turned, their cloak billowing behind them as they ran to catch up with the others.

The leader of the Cloaked Ones led the other two deep into the trees, only stopping when they found themselves surrounded by Douglas Firs instead of Pine trees. They looked around, making sure that nothing watched them. The leader dipped down, and opened a hidden compartment among the trees roots and grabbed what appeared to be weapons. She handed a long sword to one of the Cloaked Ones, and two dierks to the other. She took a bow and arrow for herself, and covered up the secret compartment. They stowed the weapons away in their cloaks, and continued on.

They ran fast and silent. As they ran, battle plans skittered through the leaders mind. They knew what was going to happen, and they understood all that was coming their way. They knew that by night fall, war would be upon them. They had to get a message to the Rebel Force and make sure that they did not remain in their current headquarters for very long. The leader didn't have many resources at their disposal, but they had an idea of how to communicate with offices. The leader was sure that nothing would have happened over night.

The leader heard a rustle a head of the running companions, and stopped the other two before they got much closer to the offending object. The leader carefully drew a small stick from their belt and cast a wordless charm towards a small bush.

A person jumped out from behind the bush and brandished their own wand towards the trio. The Cloaked Ones drew their weapons, the leaders arrow trained straight towards the new comers chest.

"Surrender." The new comer said quietly, laying his wand on the ground. The leader walked forward trying to find out which side this person was on. They recognized a few features and walked towards him. The leader gripped him round the forearm and whispered quietly in his ear. He nodded and took off in another direction, leaving the Cloaked Ones alone in the tree grove once again.

The leader glanced once at each of the companions and then started off in the direction they had been going previously. Silently making their way towards the city they kept to the shadows once they reached the outskirts of a populated town. The leader at one point paused. This was as far as they would go. The Cloaked Ones sat at the edge of a grove of trees, just watching.

Then came what they had been waiting for. A young man in long robes. This was their target. This is who they had to protect.

They were supposed to make their presence known so that they could take him to the safe house and keep him away from danger. However the leader held still, as did the companions. The leader watched the young man, curious as to why they were supposed to protect him.

Ideas and thoughts rolled through the mind of the leader, but they remained focused on the target. Finally, the leader left their position at the edge of the grove and walked forward.

"Draco Malfoy." The leader addressed the young man without question. The leader had no doubt that this was their target.

"Y-yes?" Draco stuttered, startled by the sudden appearance of the Cloaked Ones.

"Take my arm." The leader said, holding out their elbow. Draco took the arm, and felt himself going through Side-Along Apparition. He found himself in a small but comfy house. Suddenly there was the sound of feet thudding across the floor.

Suddenly a loud voice could be heard. "Are you finally back? Can someone please tell-" Though she never got to finish her sentence. Draco turned around and saw the one person he hadn't expected to see again. After all that had happened, he thought she would be long gone by now.

"Hello, Hermione." Draco said quietly, a small smile on his face.

"Draco." Hermione said curtly before turning to the Cloaked Ones."Where on earth have you taken me? And why is _he_ here?" She screamed outraged at having to share her living space with him. She had had enough of him already.

"It is for your own protection. We are the Cloaked Ones, we protect from afar, and do as the Order bid us to do. You will not see or hear us again. We promise you that. However we will always be watching." And in the blink of an eye, they were gone. Hermione rolled her eyes and threw her hands in the air out of exasperation.

"So... any clue as to why we're here?" Draco asked cautiously. He knew that Hermione was mad, but he wanted to hear what she thought.

"No, Malfoy. I have no bloody clue as to why we're stuck in this tiny little apartment together. However I do know that the couch is right there and that's what you'll be sleeping on. And don't you dare come anywhere near my room. Do we understand each other Malfoy?" She said, her eyes shooting daggers at him. He nodded and looked at the floor as she stomped out of the kitchen.

Draco barely saw Hermione over the next few days, but when he did, she wouldn't talk to him without glaring or some snide remark.

After two weeks of silence, there was someone at the door. Draco opened it up, and found Albus Dumbledore standing on the doorstep.

"Draco, m'boy! Good to see you again. Now where is Mrs. Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling as always.

After Hogwarts, Draco had been appointed as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and had worked quite closely with Dumbledore, achieving a much better relationship with the older man. Draco smiled at Albus, happy to see someone who was glaring at him or giving him the cold shoulder.

"My mother's at her cottage in France." Draco said, giving the only answer he knew to give. Dumbledore laughed at his answer. It wasn't the weak chuckle that Draco had heard many times before, it was the full wholesome laughter that Draco had heard only a few times before.

"I meant Mrs. Draco Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked happily.

"Oh... she uh... asked for a divorce a year ago. But I'll go get her for you." Draco said, his eyes showing his hurt. Dumbledore saw that hurt, and the sorrow that followed.

Dumbledore had seen even before they had been married how much Draco loved her. When the Law had been put in place, Draco hadn't picked her just to annoy her. He had asked for her hand, because Draco truly and deeply loved her. However she had been unable to see that. Even after they spent five years with one another. Even after all that had happened...

"Professor!" Hermione cried happily as she walked through the living room. She gave the elderly gentleman a big hug, happy to see him again.

"Hermione. You look well." Albus asked looking her over. "Almost as if there's a special glow about you..." He said narrowing his eyes a bit to try to figure out what glow she was emanating. She blushed.

"I'm just the same as I was when I left Hogwarts. Just a bit more grown up. What brings you here? Do you have any idea why I'm stuck in this house with Malfoy?" Hermione asked, not even bothering lowering her voice. Draco fought hard to keep back the tears.

He had sincerely loved Hermione. And five years ago he had been blessed with a way to prove to her just how much he loved her. A Marriage Law decreed by the Ministry. Draco and a few others had been given the chance to pick their brides. It was barbaric, but Draco thought it a perfect way for him to earn Hermione's love.

But she had thought it all part of some cruel joke and had never let him get too close. They had been given 1 year to reproduce. And reproduce they had. Their daughter had been born beautiful and perfect. They had named her Charisma Elizabeth Malfoy. And for almost a year they were perfectly happy.

But just when Draco thought that she might get to see how much he loved her, and how much he wanted to be with her for eternity, fortune had turned its back on him and spited him. While Hermione and Draco had gone out for the first quiet dinner alone since Charisma was born, the baby sitter they had hired for Charisma was less than what they thought.

Instead of watching Charisma, she had been partying with a few friends she had invited over. And while she partied, Charisma had managed to find her way into the bath tub, that was still full from her bath earlier. Hermione and Draco came home to 10 drunk teenagers, and a drowned baby. The teenagers had been arrested, but Hermione never forgave Draco. For it had been he that had talked her into going out for a quiet dinner that night. Draco never forgave himself.

Hermione removed herself from his bedroom, and slept on the opposite side of the House completely. She made sure to never cross paths with him. For 3 years they never saw each other. Draco had asked for a hiatus from work. An indefinite hiatus. Dumbledore had allowed it due to the circumstances. Draco never knew if Hermione had taken off work. He never saw her, and therefore had no idea whether she was at home or at work.

The Ministry had told all those affected by the Marriage Law, that if within five years, they did not wish to remain together, they could then get a divorce. So shortly before the 5 year mark, Hermione made an appearance to Malfoy again. She told him that they had 1 month before the 5 year mark, and she would be filing for divorce at that point. Draco had invited her to go for some dinner and drinks, just to say goodbye to what little marriage they had.

Hermione agreed, and they went off to dinner. However, once they started drinking, Draco's memories grew fainter and fainter. After he ordered his fifth drink, the next thing he knew he was in bed, naked, with his wife, also naked, beside him. Draco quickly moved her to her bed, and put clothes on. He didn't want her making a huge fuss out of what was probably nothing.

Now here they were. A year later, and they were living together again.

"Draco." Hermione's voice brought him out of his reverie. She and Dumbledore were standing on the opposite side of the room, both of them looking at him.

"Yes?" Draco asked, his eyes weary and sad.

"According to Dumbledore, your father is out of prison, along with a few of his Death Eater friends. He brought us here to protect us. Your father is furious that we were married, as pathetic a marriage as it was, and has decided to kill the two of us if it's the last thing he does." Hermione said completely annoyed.

Draco's eyes bugged and his heart rate sped up. But as he looked at Hermione, she seemed completely unperturbed by this news.

"How are you so calm?" He asked feeling his breath escalate.

"Because, we didn't work out, there is no heir to the Malfoy line and money, and I have nothing to do with you." Hermione said, crossing her arms over her chest. Suddenly there was a soft noise from the direction of Hermione's room, but before Draco could ask about it, Hermione was in her room and shutting her door behind her.

"Draco, don't worry. She'll understand in time. She will see that you truly do love her. Just give it some time." Albus said before letting himself out of the apartment. Draco sat down at the dinner table that was never used, and put his head in his hands. How had this happened? Why had things gotten so out of control.

"Well, well. If it isn't the little blood traitor himself. Tell me, Draco, why did you choose the mudblood? Even the young Weasley bitch would have been better. But yet you chose the mudblood. Why Draco?" A voice said from the doorway. Draco stood up and grabbed for his wand.

"Put your wand down boy. We aren't playing games here." A voice said from beside Draco. He put his wand down as he became surrounded by Death Eaters.

"Tell me, son. Why her?" Lucius asked stepping towards his son.

"Because I love her." Draco said glaring at his father. Lucius scoffed at his son's words.

"Then maybe you do belong with her. Breeding illegitimate babies and spreading mud and dirt through the Wizarding world. I should have known how worthless you were when you were younger. You were never strong as a boy. Mentally or emotionally... I should have killed you before you had a chance to be corrupted. I saw it early on, but I thought I could squash it. I guess I was wrong."

"You need to leave." Draco said, keeping his eyes on as many Death Eaters as was possible at one time.

"Really Draco? I think I'd rather stay. We all would. And maybe while we're here, we can play a little game. It's called Pain or Pleasure. Here's how you play: We blind fold you, and you get to listen as we make the mudblood scream. However you have to decide whether she's screaming out of pain... or pleasure. If it's pain, we'll know just how weak she is, if it's pleasure, we'll know just how much a little whore she is. McNair, the girl." Lucius said.

A few moments later Draco heard Hermione screaming. He tried to get up to fight, but was forced down into his chair. His father smiled viciously as he blindfolded Draco. Draco struggled, trying to release himself from these bonds. He tried to get to Hermione, but her screaming seemed so loud and... multiplied? Draco shook his head and tried to get out of the chair. But to no avail, he was shortly punched in the groin, leaving him breathless and gasping in pain. Somehow the screaming seemed less all of a sudden...

"Alright Draco. We'll start out easy just so you can get a handle on the game." Suddenly there was an ear splitting scream. It stopped suddenly.

"Now Draco. Pain? Or pleasure?" Draco didn't answer, but gritted his teeth from spitting out nasty words at his father.

"Answer me, Draco. Pain or pleasure?" Again, Draco didn't answer. After a few moments he felt as if his body was on fire, he was being Crucioed.

"Pain or pleasure, Draco?" Lucius asked.

"Pain." Draco said through gritted teeth.

"Good!" That was followed by more screaming. Draco knew that they weren't using the Cruciatus curse on her. They were seriously torturing her, they could hear it in her voice. In the way she screamed. This was terrifying, excruciating pain that wouldn't go away as easily as the Cruciatus curse would.

"Pain or pleasure?" Lucius asked again. But before Draco could answer, Hermione started screaming. This time it was swear words.

"MCNAIR! Wait until he has answered. And you mudblood, will be quiet while I am talking. Now just do as McNair instructs." Lucius said his voice dripping with malice.

"Draco, answer me."

"Pain." Draco said.

"Good. Now, now isn't that a good mudblood? Already doing as she's told. Draco, you may have found us the perfect slave..." Lucius exclaimed, and Draco could practically see the cruel smile playing on Lucius' lips.

There was a second of silence before Hermione started screaming again. This time it wasn't pain, or fear that was in her scream. Draco could how terrified she was, afraid, and he could hear how much pain this was causing her. All his muscles tensed as he heard a secondary noise that filled him with anger, and hatred. They were raping her now.

"Pain!" Draco screamed, hoping that if he answered early they would stop.

"Unfortunately Draco, McNair isn't finished. So you'll have to wait. Answering early won't stop what we're doing to her." Draco clenched his fists and growled low in his chest. He couldn't stand to hear this. He couldn't stand to hear the woman he loved being raped and tortured like this. This was beyond cruel.

After awhile, the screaming subsided and it changed to whimpering. But soon, she was screaming again. And like always, it stopped abruptly. The whimpering continued, but at a slower pace than before.

"Pain or pleasure, Draco?"

"Pain." Draco said, his voice weak.

For hours it went on like this, Hermione's screams tearing his heart up. But the worst part was, after awhile, the screams turned from pain to pleasure. Instead of being terrified, she sounded like she was enjoying this. Lucius kept asking Draco until he finally got it wrong, and then he stopped asking. Draco's heart was broken by the time they were through. Finally Lucius, took off the blind fold from Draco and removed the binds holding him to the chair.

He rushed over to the motionless body that was Hermione, and started stroking her hair and whispering every contraceptive spell he knew. He couldn't bear to let her have any child of these bastards. He refused to let it happen.

"Draco, move out of the way." Lucius said quietly after putting his black cloak on again. The Death Eaters were done redressing and were now ready to leave.

"No." Draco answered, his back still to them.

"No?" Lucius asked, his voice disbelieving.

"No." Draco confirmed, still stroking Hermione's hair. He had taken the blanket that was on the couch and draped it over her, so that she wasn't cold, or exposed.

"Stand aside, son."

Draco stood up and faced his father. A look of pure hatred graced his fair features, and his eyes flashed dangerously.

"I am no son of yours. You are vile, pathetic, worthless creature. I am disgusted to have once called you father. But no more. No more." Draco said, staring his father down. With each sentence, Draco took one small step towards his father. Lucius aimed his wand at Hermione and started to whisper a spell. Draco dodged in front of the spell, blocking Hermione from what he knew was something terrible.

He was one of two people who had done this very thing. And like the other case of this, as the caster turned his wand on his original target and fired the spell, it backfired, not even harming the person it had been meant for. As in the other case, the caster was destroyed. However, unlike the first time, the caster was completely destroyed, leaving behind no remnants of himself.

And off in another room, a small soft cry was heard by no one.


	24. The Holidays

**A/N: Hey! Ok, so a few weeks ago I got a message from a reader asking me to update again. And I apologize for taking so long, but before I hadn't really been sure if I wanted to continue writing this story or any other story. But I remembered that writing fanfiction keeps my creative juices flowing. Plus writing here, has helped me become a much better writer. I will try to update at least once a week. Hopefully. So thank you Lilith Jinx, i probably wouldn't have remembered that fanfiction made me a better writer if you hadn't messaged me asking me to update. **

**The Holidays**

Hermione stared at her hands. How had it come to this? Why now? She looked at the plastic in her hands, the one that decided her fate. She hadn't wanted any of this to happen. She looked back down, her mind unable to comprehend everything. The first thing was to remember when this had happened. She tried to remember. A few months ago, maybe? She remembered parties with her friends, old school mates, work friends, office parties. The Holidays were always such a blur. With the whirl wind of activity she couldn't remember everything as clearly as she wanted to.

But as she thought harder, wracking her brain for some sort of memory it came back to her in pieces.

_The drinks were intoxicating and the music loud. It was like every other party, with the loud talking and the dancing. With the whispered romances that would end in the morning and the mistakes of more drinks. Hermione smiled at Ron as she downed another drink, he chugged his own, watching a thin blonde walk by. Things had ended amicably between them over a year ago. Hermione had tried to make things work, she knew that everyone would expect the two of them to get together. _

_But the romance that they had wasn't enough for either of them. Ron wanted someone who was ready to settle, ready to start a family. And Hermione didn't even know if she wanted the family in the first place. And of course there were other reasons for the end of their relationship. But now they were friends again, and while Ron walked off to go talk up a small blonde girl, Hermione downed another and another drink. _

_She didn't love Ron, she wasn't sure if she had at one point or another. She wasn't drinking because of him. She was drinking because of the party. She hated parties. She hated the loud music and the close proximity to other people, and of course she hated the drunk men. They always were a bit too touchy for her tastes. She moved through the throbbing crowd, trying to find the door. She wasn't leaving. Not without Harry and Ginny. But she could at least go to get some fresh air. _

_As she made her way outside, she noticed someone else doing the same thing she was. Draco Malfoy stood, with his back to her, staring up at the stars. They worked together at the Ministry. They both interned with the Magical Defense department, and spent many hours together. For the last two years they had become well acquainted, and on some accounts could even call themselves friends. _

_The animosity between them had been forgiven and Hermione, after a while, could care less that he was Death Eater. She remembered what he had done during the war, the few times he had stood in the way of the Dark Lord taking over. She understood that there was something deeper than just the face he showed to everyone. She walked over beside him, to see what he was looking at. As she looked up at the stars, she could see why he would be watching them. They were beautiful. It was currently the dead of night, and somehow the stars were all out and they were beautiful. _

_A pale glow could be seen on the horizon in front of them, but morning was still a ways away. And the stars shone on, their light only made greater by the full moon watching over them. Hermione stared in shock at the beauty of the stars. In the city you don't see them as well as you should. The light pollution of the city hides most of the stars. But here, Hermione could see them all. _

_"It's almost like being back at Hogwarts, isn't it?" Draco said, he was looking down at Hermione. She looked back up at him, confused as to what he meant._

_"At Hogwarts, the stars are just as bright and clear. I've never seen this sky anywhere else, but there." He said in explanation, his gaze returning to the stars. Hermione allowed her gaze to flick over his features quickly while he looked away. She hadn't noticed before, but he had grown quite a bit over the last two years. His features more angular than they had been, his eyes harder. But not colder, like his father's. No, Lucius' eyes felt like cold pools of ice water, while Draco had eyes that reminded you of an airy breeze. Hermione felt refreshed looking at them. _

_"Hermione, you should really stop staring. You're making me blush." Draco said without looking away from the stars. Hermione blushed and looked back at the stars._

_"Sorry, you look like your father. But at the same time you're almost polar opposites." Hermione muttered as she recognized Orion in the sky. Now she could tell he was staring at her._

_"Do you think I'm like my father?" It wasn't an accusation. It was a serious question. Hermione could hear the fear in his voice. He was scared that he was, scared that he would turn out cold and cruel, like his father._

_"Not even close. You are nice, and kind, and I enjoy being around you. I consider you one of my friends. Trust me, it would be impossible at this point for you to be like your father." Hermione said looking back at him. For a while their eyes held. Her warm chestnuts, his cool silver, all the world silent around them as they watched each other. _

_What happened next, Hermione assumed was because of the alcohol. But there was more, the shared emotions between them, while magnified because of the alcohol was undeniable. They kissed without any restraint, and without any breathing. As they parted for breath, Draco whispered a question that Hermione couldn't say no to. Later she would say it was the alcohol that made her say yes, but in the moment she wanted to. As they disappeared from the party, Hermione wasn't thinking of her friends, or the next morning. _

_For the first time in her life, she was thinking of the moment right here and now. _

Hermione walked into work, unsure of what to do. Should she talk to Draco? Or just deal with it on her own? She knew that she should confide in someone, who could help her make a decision about this. Hermione put her stuff down and started to get to her work, when she realized it needed to be now or never. She made her way down to the Department of International Communication. She looked all over the office for Ginny. When Hermione finally found her, she was nearly in tears.

"Ginny. I'm pregnant. I don't know what to do... Should I keep the baby? Should I give it up for adoption? Should I terminate the pregnancy?" Hermione asked, now completely crying. They had moved to the girl's restroom to talk, and Ginny was glad they had.

"Seriously? You're pregnant?" Ginny asked staring at her friend in shock.

"Yes."

"Who's the father?"

"Doesn't matter."

"How far along?"

"Three months nearly."

"I think you should keep it, then give it up for adoption. I'm personally against the whole terminating the pregnancy thing. The baby is already forming, as we speak, and it's a human being." Ginny said hugging her best friend close. "I also think you should at least tell the father that he's gonna have a kid. Just tell him that you're pregnant, but you're giving it up." Ginny whispered to Hermione. Hermione nodded, but she wasn't sure.

How was she going to tell Draco that she was pregnant. And how would he take it? It had been three months since that night at the party. She had been so busy that she hadn't really noticed her missing period. At first she thought it was just stress, but when her eating habits changed and her body began to shift ever so slightly, she thought she should at least check.

She said good bye to Ginny, and walked back to her desk, hoping she could get back to work. She blindly worked as she thought of the baby, and Draco. She felt a tap on her shoulder and saw Draco looking at her concerned.

"Hey Draco. What's going on?" She asked trying to come back from her thoughts.

"It's 5:30. Time to go home. I noticed you were still here, even though you finished like an hour ago. You don't look well. Here, I'll take you home." Draco said, holding his hand out to help her up.

"I feel fine, really. Don't worry about me." Hermione said, hoping to shake him off. She needed to talk to him about this, Ginny was at least right about that. But she couldn't do it. Not right now.

"Please, I insist. You've ignored me all day. I tried talking to you like twenty times, but you just stared off into the distance. Please, Hermione." Draco said, and Hermione immediately felt bad.

"I'm so sorry. I've been a bit distracted." Hermione said, her cheeks reddening.

"A bit? A bit would have shaken off quickly. You probably didn't even realize what time it was." Hermione smiled shamefully, staring at the ground.

"Ok. You're right. I've been extremely distracted. Can I talk to you about something?" Hermione asked, knowing what better time than the present. If she didn't say it now, she probably would never do it. She would chicken out.

"Of course."

"But you have to promise not to say anything to anyone else. Promise?"

"Promise."

Hermione nodded, and waited til they had apparated out of the Atrium to her apartment.

"I'm pregnant. I'm not keeping the baby. I'll give it up for adoption when it's born, but I thought you should at least know." Hermione said watching his grey eyes carefully.

"So does that mean its mine?" Draco asked, his expression hard to read.

"Yes. I guess we didn't really take the proper precautions."

"You're giving it up for adoption?"

"Yes. I can't raise a child on my own. And I'm not gonna force you to take responsibility of a life."

"I want to."

"What?"

"I want to take responsibility. I'll raise the kid. I'll take full responsibility."

"Draco, no. We're much too young, and I'll never allow you to raise a kid on your own."

"Then raise them with me. Hermione, we could do this. Please, what better home could we give them but our own?"

"Draco... I don't know. We're barely 20, we can't start a family!"

"Why not? We both get paid quite well, and we could sell one of our apartments and live in the others. My mother still has somethings from when I was a baby that we could reuse now." Draco argued, his eyes pleading and happy. Hermione had no idea he would react like this. Who would have known that Draco would have jumped at the thought of starting a family?

"What about us? We don't even like each other in that way." Hermione said, hoping to close the argument quickly.

"I was actually hoping to ask you out soon. I really enjoyed talking to you at that party. I also enjoyed what happened at my apartment, too. But I enjoy talking to you. I like you. I've liked you for almost a year now and I was hoping to get to know you better." Draco said, calming down a bit.

Hermione looked up at Draco, and again she saw the man she saw that night three months ago. She saw the kindness in his eyes, and knew that she would give in. She knew right then and there, she would always give in to Draco Malfoy. Hermione smiled as she realized she was going to have a child. And start a family with Draco Malfoy.

"Ok, but I'm not going to marry you until I want to, ok? I want us to marry because we love each other, not because we have to. You understand?" Hermione said narrowing her eyes at Draco. He nodded, his eyes ecstatic as he realized what she meant. She opened the door to her apartment and allowed him to follow her inside.

Oh yes, the holidays are always a blur. But Hermione, was slightly glad they were, because if they weren't, she wouldn't be having a child with Draco Malfoy.


	25. Hope For A New Life

**A/N: Ok, so I'm not really sure where this came from, but I kind of like it. It may be a bit confusing. But after awhile it should be less confusing. I know I said i would update once a week, but i feel like it's a good story to tell. Hope you enjoy it! Thank you to all the reviewers, you made me want to continue writing. **

* * *

**Hope For A New Life**

Draco sat at the table, watching his family enjoy dinner. They were talking and laughing, passing food back and forth. He saw his granddaughter giggling and feeding her baby girl as his eldest son took the last of the bread. Everyone was talking about previous Christmas dinners, giggling about things relatives had done in the past. What they had gotten for Christmas earlier that day, friends they couldn't wait to see back at school or work.

Draco had created a name for himself, and settled down with a nice woman and started a family. He had made sure his parents legacy as Death Eaters was behind him. He brought his children into a world where Malfoys were respected for their hard work and kindness. He had created a name for his family, for his children and their children. Draco looked at all that he had created, the family gathered around his table. His four grown children who all had children and spouses of their own. And two great grandchildren whose lives had just begun.

He smiled looking at his family. His wife, Astoria, had passed away many years ago, he was just barely holding onto life. He didn't expect to see another Christmas. He was glad that he could spend this one with his entire family. He loved his grandchildren and his children. He enjoyed knowing that he had given them a life worth much more than his had been worth.

"Grandpa! Tell us the story of how you made life better for us!" Draco smiled as he remembered the story himself. As he began to retell the story, it was like he was reliving the memory again. He could feel the cold wind on his face, the hoot of the owls nearby. The story starts out on the day of his graduation from Hogwarts. Even though he hadn't really attended Hogwarts that last year, the Headmistress took his participation in battle, albeit on the wrong side, and allowed him to graduate as with the rest of his classmates who had fought in the battle.

_Years ago he had imagined the expressions on his classmate's faces as they all received their diplomas in turn. He imagined most of them would be extremely happy that they were done with school. Especially Granger. After First year, they all knew she would be the Valedictorian. Draco always imagined she'd be all giggly and jumpy during her speech. That she would nearly scream with excitement when she received her diploma. But on the actual day, she stood there weakly, trying not to cry._

_"There are people who should have been here today, but aren't. There are memories we shouldn't have, things that we've done that we want to forget. Our lives are very different because of this last year. We may never get over the nightmares of this year, we might never forget what life once was before the war. But we should at least try. Think of those we lost during the war, of our loved ones we'll never see alive again. They would want us to live our lives, to move on. We'll try. Most of us won't succeed. But we should at least try." Granger said before quickly walking off the stage. _

_The entire ceremony was sad, with not much happiness. When Draco got his diploma he was excited to start over. This diploma set him above anything he could have hoped for. He could get a job. Even as a clerk, it was better than nothing. Draco had hope for the future. After the graduation, everyone stuck around sharing drinks and condolences of the lost ones. _

_Draco was standing alone on the edge of the lake. Thinking of what future he could make for himself. He decided that maybe a job as a teacher would eventually be a good idea. He loved Hogwarts. Deep down it was a truly happy place. He would enjoy coming back to teach other students. Or he could try working in the Ministry. That would be a worth while career. Draco, lost in thoughts, barely noticed Granger standing beside him. _

_"Malfoy? You doing ok?" The voice brought him out of his thoughts of the future._

_"Yes. I'm fine. Thinking of where I go from here." Draco said not looking away from the horizon of the lake. _

_"I know. I'm having the same problem." She said folding her arms over her chest._

_"You have the ability to do anything you want. Any job you desire is yours. Me, on the other hand, I'll have trouble getting a job." Draco said, turning his head slightly to look at her. She was looking up at him, concern in her eyes._

_"I can get you a job. Just a small job, you might not like it. Stay there for a while, and you might be able to get a better job. It'll help you get started, get you some money, gain work experience. It's not much, but it'll get you started." Granger said now completely facing him._

_"Why would you do this for me?" It was a simple question, he wasn't about to turn her down or anything, but he wanted an answer._

_"Because you deserve to have a good life. You turned your back on Voldemort, you chose our side. I see the way you've acted since the end of the war. You've changed, Draco Malfoy. I want to make sure you can live the life you should. The best way to forget the war, to forget the damage done is to start over. To make a new world, and some new lives for ourselves. I'm pretty sure that's what I want to do. I want to help people get their lives back on track." Granger said glancing back over the lake._

_"You want people to forget this war happened?" Draco asked, shocked that Granger would suggest such a thing._

_"No. We should never forget what happened. But we should try to move on. Move away from the memories. It's not like we could ever forget. It's ingrained in our minds now. It always will be. But if we can start over, start a new chapter, that would be good enough. Wouldn't it?" Granger turned to look at Draco. He looked back at her, his lips curving up into a slight smile. _

_"Yes. It would be." _

_"Alright. How are you getting home? Where would you even call home?" Granger asked, her chestnut eyes concerned. _

_"I don't know. I'll probably sell anything that is expensive. Anything that connects the Malfoy name to bad memories, and bad people. I don't know what I want out of life, but I do know, that I will untarnish my name." Draco said wringing his hands. He had no place to stay, no where to go now. He couldn't stay at the Manor. He had no idea what secrets lay in there. He couldn't afford to be put in jail for being a Death Eater. He didn't even have the Mark._

_"That's a good idea. Recreate the reputation for the Malfoy name. That might work. Instead of standing for whatever it does now, you could make it mean so much more." Granger said smiling up at Draco. She seemed to be really glad that he was planning on changing his future._

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Well you have a whole future to recreate for yourself. Your parents will no longer tell you what path to take, what road to go down. You can create your own future. So you can recreate your name to have a better meaning. For your children, grandchildren, and all their descendants, the Malfoy name could stand for hard work and reliability. You can change things so that when people hear your name, they associate it with kindness, and hard work, and anything else you want it to be. Your future could be very, very bright, Draco." She had said his first name. She had never said his first name before. _

_Draco liked the way it rolled off her tongue. And he was glad she had talked to him, instead of hating him like everyone else would. _

_"That sounds like a good future. I'll take the job you offered earlier." Draco said, a full smile gracing his lips. Granger, smiled back. No, her name was Hermione. He would call her Hermione from now on. Maybe she was also in his future. Maybe, maybe. _

_"Until you can pay for your own place to stay, you can stay with me. Don't worry. It's a house, so we won't be rubbing elbows all the time. And it's very lonely, I don't think I could stand to be alone." Hermione said quietly. She was looking down towards the ground, and Draco could see tears running down her cheeks. Hermione saw him looking at her, and she knew she had to tell him anyways._

_"Just before I left with Ron and Harry to search for Horcruxes, I took away my parents' memories of me. They up and left to Australia, leaving their house behind. I have been unable to find them in Australia. So the house is mine to do with as I please. Trust me, I don't want to stay there alone."_

_"What's going on between you and Ron?" _

_Hermione seemed shock at the question, as if it was not what she expected._

_"We are exploring a relationship. But, I was raised right. He will not be coming anywhere near the house." _

_"But you're letting me stay?"_

_"Yes. We will be living as room mates, with the assumption that each others rooms are off limits and we maintain certain boundaries. Of course, I'm not willing to tell Ron or Harry about these arrangements. They will not be very understanding." Draco nodded, understanding the predicament entirely._

The next few months were spent in happiness, on Draco's part. The job Hermione had promised him was better than he could ever have expected. He worked days, and sometimes weekends. He got to know Hermione for a great and intelligent woman who had grown up a bit too soon. He was attracted to her in a way he would never be able to describe to another person.

Eventually he was able to pay for a place of his own. But he never had any pressure to move out. Until Hermione told him that she was going to move in with Ron. Draco asked if he could keep the house. She agreed, as long as he would allow her to come stay whenever she needed to. Those nights were common. Nights when Ron was unbearable to deal with, nights when he wouldn't be see reason and logic. She would stay at the house, and talk with Draco. Or they would watch movies until they both passed out.

Time passed, and they grew older. Hermione, against Draco's better judgement, married Ron. Draco never told her his feelings for her. He married Astoria shortly after, and started his own family. But as his name and family grew, Draco never forgot the woman who helped him when no one else would. He remembered her kindness, when she should have hated him above all others. His aunt had tortured her, his Lord hunted her, and his parents had taught him to despise her. But he would never be able to despise her.

He saw her with Ron, right as he was wishing his eldest son good luck at Hogwarts. He wanted to walk up to her and tell her how much she meant to him. How much she changed his life. But he couldn't. He couldn't ruin her life like that. He had no idea how she would take it, how she would react to it. They were just friends. They kept in constant contact, enjoying each other's confidence every now and then. By now, Ron knew of their friendship, and though he didn't like it, it made his wife happy.

Draco saw her every year. Receiving and saying good bye to her children, as he did the same with his. But Draco would always look for her in the crowd. Draco's youngest was barely old enough to walk before Astoria passed away from a terrible disease. It wasn't genetic, so none of his children would share his fate. He lived out his years, alone in his house during the school year. Allowing his work to take over his life during those months, gave him proper leave to take off the summer months.

When her youngest finally graduated from Hogwarts, that was the last Draco saw of Hermione for years. After all these years, he still loved her greatly. He always would. His life would forever be in her debt.

But one day, when Draco was old and withering away, he saw her. Walking with what appeared to be a great grandchild of her own. Draco walked up to her as they stopped at an ice cream shoppe, and stared at her for a while before she noticed.

"Sir, will you stop staring?" She asked kindly in a weak voice.

"Are you Hermione Granger?" He asked quietly, hoping she would say yes. She nodded, that beautiful smile gracing her old lips.

"It's me, Draco. Draco Malfoy." He said when she nodded.

"Oh! Draco! It's so good to see you again. How are your children?" She asked. She knew Astoria was long dead, just as he knew that Ron was dead almost as long. He had died in a fire caused by a Muggle. However, he and Hermione had been separated for a few years when it happened.

"They're good. I have two great grandchildren. Orion and Cassiopeia. My granddaughter Celia always adored the family tradition of constellation and stars for names." He said smiling as he thought about his two young ones at home. Hermione smiled and patted her own young one.

"This is Orsa. My granddaughter. I have no great grandchildren yet. Her twin brother is Draco. I asked their mother Rose to name them after Constellations. She picked yours because of the respect you have in the world. You've achieved what you wanted, Draco. I'm so proud of you." Hermione said grinning.

"Grandma! This is Draco Malfoy? THE Draco Malfoy?" Orsa said pulling on her grandma's sleeve.

"Yes, sweet pea. This is Draco Malfoy. He is one of my greatest friends. We've known each other for a while." Hermione said, her eyes never leaving Draco's face. The happiness showed on his face as he realized that the little girl was looking up at him with admiration. But she quickly hid behind Hermione when she saw him looking at her. Hermione mouthed that she was shy.

His last encounter with Hermione before she died nearly two weeks after wards. Draco, realizing he had finished his story but still had one more line to say, looked up at the children watching him. His children, his grandchildren, and his great grandchildren. They were the legacy he was leaving behind. They were the world he would leave soon.

"I made lemonade out of the lemons I was given. But there is one woman, who we should never forget for our fortune. Miss Hermione Granger. She believed in me when no one else would. She gave me a job, and a place to stay. And was one of my greatest friends. The last time I told this story, she was still alive. She died a few days ago. Scorpius, Orion, please send roses to her remaining family in condolence." Draco said as he took the last bite of his dessert.

"Father, why won't you be doing it?" Scorpius asked, concerned with his father's words.

"Because, I will not make it through the night. You have all heard my story many times. And you will pass it on from generation to generation. Remember it always. This is where our family started. I have made this legacy for you, and I have created it from the hell it was for me. Never forget that our name now stands for kindness and hard work. Never forget that. It is my time to leave this world. Please remember the flowers for Hermione. Without her, maybe none of you would be here. I certainly wouldn't."

Draco Malfoy passed away that night, as the wind blew cold and the snow fell. But as he passed from this world to the next, it was not St. Peter who greeted him. And it was no Devil who met him. It was Hermione, waiting for him at the edge of the lake. She was as he would always see her, that beautiful, strong woman who had offered him a job and a place to stay. And hope. She had given him hope for a new life.


	26. Shot

**A/N: I am so frustrated. Not with you guys, don't worry. I had a whole update ready to go and then I pressed the backspace, but my computer thought I wanted to go back on the internet browser, and deleted the entire post. And it was really good! So later tonight when I get home from work I'm gonna try to recreate it for you. I remember what it was for the most part, so I'll redo it. But in the mean time, please enjoy this story. :)**

**Also thank you to Lilith Jinx and clanmei for reviewing! And all the wonderful people who subscribed and favorited :)**

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**Shot**

Hermione stared out the window. Snow was falling, but the wind whipped the flakes through the air, making it hard to see outside.

"Miss Granger, please stay away from the window." It was one of the officers who was in charge of her protection.

"I think I can look out a window, officer. There's no way he can see in this weather." Hermione said, annoyance plaguing her voice. But the officer insisted that she step away from the window and go back to the middle of the room. Hermione, annoyed that she was being treated like a child, walked out of the room into the kitchen. She was followed by most of the officers from the other room.

Hermione hated having these officers watch her every move. However, supposedly they were needed for her protection. Hermione was the sole witness of a mass murder of people. She had been shot twice herself; once in the left shoulder just above her heart, and once in her abdomen. The one in her abdomen looked terrible because she had been shot point blank by a shot gun.

It was in times like these that she wished she still had her magic. Shortly after graduation from Hogwarts, Hermione decided to give up her magic. The memories of the war were too terrible. She gave up her magic, and rejoined the Muggle world. Within a few months she accidentally got herself involved in this, and now wished desperately for her magic back. The shot gun wound hurt so much if she moved the wrong way, or twisted on accident. But she had insisted to the doctors that she would be fine at her own home. The police had said that for her protection a squad of officers would be on guard for her protection at all times.

As Hermione made a few potfuls of boiling water, she always tried to make enough tea for all the gentleman, she heard their radios all switch on as a voice informed them of something or another. Hermione turned the heat on and went to go tell them that she had put the kettle on for tea, when the officer in charge stepped forward.

"Miss Granger, there have been sightings of the shooter just outside your neighborhood. Reinforcements are on the way, please stay put." The officer spoke so formally Hermione always wanted to laugh after he talked.

"First of all, please call me Hermione. I got enough of 'Miss Granger' at school to last me a lifetime. Second of all, please inform your officers water is on for tea and they can do whatever tactical positions please them to come and get a cup of tea when the water's done." Hermione hoped it was sarcastic enough and made a point on the officer, but he just nodded and motioned to his men before slipping into the other room.

"Black ops men." Hermione breathed, rolling her eyes. Her life had become something of a joke to her in the past few weeks. Hermione knew it would be months, if not years, before she ever left this house alone. They had to catch the guy, then wait for his trial. And of course there was the little disagreement about whether Hermione was going to need to go into Witness Protector or something of the sort. It was an American device to keep people, such as herself, safe. She had no idea what it did, and most of the officer's thought it was poppycock.

Hermione was deep in thought when a large commotion alerted her to the presence of every officer she probably would ever know in her kitchen. She began counting the men, and got out the appropriate number of cups and all the teas she had available. To her dismay nearly all her Earl Grey was gone and she had just bought some. These men went through it way too fast for her liking.

"Alright, form a line." She said loudly, and they all got in line. She was always allowed to go first, mainly because it was her house. She retrieved her tea bag and a cup and poured some water in. She inhaled the aroma of the tea and immediately felt better. After they had all gotten their tea, they went back to guarding the house, all with cups in hand. Hermione always enjoyed the sight of the officers, in their tactical gear and armed to the teeth, holding mugs of tea. It was a sight that not many people in this world would ever see. Unless Hermione took a picture of it and posted it on the internet somewhere.

Another radio communication pulled her out of her own thoughts. She continued drinking her tea, but watched the head officer for details she should be aware of. He noticed her staring and seemed to smile at her quickly.

"Yes, Hermione?" He asked using her first name like she asked.

"What's going on on the radio?" She asked politely, taking another sip of her tea.

"A few more officers are going to be joining the squad today. Just some extra protection for your own safety, and a sniper team is being installed on the stores on the other end of the block." Hermione knew that he had been pushing for a sniper team for awhile. Then the squad would just serve as extra back up, and the sniper team would be the first defense.

"Oh, well that's good to hear." Hermione said sipping more tea.

"Yes, it seems that the people at fault for your shooting want to make sure no one can make a stand against them. So we think they're going to try to take you out sometime soon." He said adjusting one of his guns.

"Oh, how will they react to the officers? We can't have them running off, we need to send them to jail."

"Well, we have a feeling that they'll try to do whatever it takes to make sure there are no witnesses. They worked systematically, they're a very well developed team with a-" But his sentenced was never finished. Before he fell to the ground, Hermione saw the bullet in his head. He fell to the ground and she knew she had to, too. Screaming, officers went into action. They all flooded into the kitchen, saw their head's body and her cowering in a ball, before forming a shield for her. They all watched for some movement, for something that would reveal the location of the shooter. But Hermione knew that they wouldn't find anything.

He had been right. They were systematic and calculating and did this for a purpose. They would get away with it, even if it meant killing every single officer to get to her. Hermione, crouched on the ground, started crying. She would never escape from the horror of the war, would she?

"Officer's! Attention!" A loud voice brought all the officers to a standing position as she remained on the ground crying.

"Casualties?" The voice asked, stepping towards the guard of soldiers.

"Just Officer Hensley. He was in charge, sir." One of the officers spoke up.

"Damn."

"Sir, aren't you in charge now?" Apparently the officers knew the new comers.

"I believe that is now the case. And where is Hermione Granger? Is she still alive?" Hermione caught the sound of hope in his voice, the slight familiarity in the way he said her name. But she didn't know any Muggle officers other than the ones surrounding her right now.

"I'm right here." The guard stepped just out of the way so that the new guy could see her. Hermione didn't pick up her head, why should she?

"Miss Granger? Aren't you going to insist on getting to know the head officer? You did with Officer Hensley." An officer said quietly, kneeling down next to her.

"What's the point? He's just going to die too. All of you are. You should go back to the precinct and just let them kill me without more innocent people getting killed." Hermione said, standing up to go sit on the couch.

"Miss Granger, you are an innocent person and our duty is to protect you. We will not allow you to be killed and if that means we die in the process then we died in the line of duty. I can't speak for the other officers, but I would gladly take a bullet to protect you." Hermione looked up at the officer, unsure if he really meant it. But as she looked in those silver eyes, and saw the truth she knew he wasn't bluffing. "Plus, I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I don't plan on dying any time soon." Draco whispered quietly into Hermione's ear as he pressed something into her hands.

She felt the shape of the object, the familiar feel it had in her hands. She felt the warmth circulating through it, and she knew it was responding to her magic. She smiled as she twirled the wand around in her fingers, and allowed the magic that had been dormant for sometime to flow through her veins. She looked up into the eyes of her fellow Wizard and realized that this fight just became even.


	27. This Christmas

**A/N: Alright, so I tried to recreate the lost chapter for you. I'm pretty sure it's just as good as the one I wrote last night, if not better. And I made specials pains to save it every few minutes. Also thanks to ultra-swimgurl for the review! You made my day. I saw your review as I was leaving work where I'd had a very rough day and it made me happy. :) And by the way, all your questions will be answered in the sequel which I'll start writing now. :D Hope you enjoy this! **

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**This Christmas**

Christmas. To Hermione it was almost as bad as Valentine's Day. With all the commercials about spending the holidays with your loved ones, or buying jewelry for that special woman, Hermione was about ready to just call her boss and tell him she could work all winter long. She remembered when she used to adore the holidays. She once looked forward to spending the time with her parents, or her friends.

But her parents were dead, and her friends all busy with their own loved ones. Harry had Ginny and the entire Weasley family. Ron had Lavendar and his family. And she couldn't intrude on her Muggle friends. Christmas was something that Muggle families celebrated on their own. They usually went on vacation to some exotic place, or hid away in a cabin in the woods.

This year, Christmas was going to be lonely. And slightly disappointing. She knew the Weasley's well enough to know soon she'd be getting an owl, inviting her over for some dinner or another. Hermione groaned as she remembered that this was an annual invitation. She was determined to get out of it this year. Good thing Hermione was getting better at coming up with excuses to get out of these things. She could always say her boyfriend's parents wanted to get to know her better, and then tell Ginny some bull shit story of meeting a new guy.

But as Hermione sat and thought about that plan, it seemed a bit too complicated. Plus, eventually she would either have to fabricate a break up, or a boyfriend. And seeing as creating a boyfriend out of thin air was nearly impossible, Hermione decided to figure out a better route. Maybe go nearer to the truth? Possibly that she opted to work through the Holidays, so that others in her Department could celebrate it with their families? That might work, plus it would be more characteristic of her than making up a new boyfriend.

Hermione, having decided on a story to tell the Weasley's, turned her attention back to the Christmas special on TV. As usual it was some Christmas story about true love and the journey some woman took to find it. Hermione rolled her eyes, knowing full well the ending to this. She would find the guy of her dreams, then realize her real true love was right in front of her the whole time, then fell for him even though it was too late. And then him choosing her over the other girl anyway. These love stories always ended happy.

"Stupid love stories. Why can't all love stories end like West Side Story? Why does everyone else get to be happy?" Hermione muttered angrily out loud. She turned the television off and put her dinner dishes away. She couldn't sit around and watch another romance movie. They always made her depressed, cause it reminded her of the guy she couldn't have, and the love she would never share with him.

Hermione dragged herself upstairs, wishing she had a different life. She knew the next few hours would be spent staring at the ceiling as she attempted to fall asleep. Then when she finally managed it, she would have these horrible nightmares, remnants of the war, and would wake early in the morning and would feel as exhausted as she had when she originally wanted to go to sleep.

The only reprieve from her nightmares, was the few seconds when she would have a happy ending with the man of her dreams. She knew things wouldn't ever work out between them, their history prevented it. But she could still dream. And dream she did. She dreamed of walking off into the sunset with him after the Final Battle, she dreamed of waking up next to him instead of alone. But no. He would be taken from her right as she began to think it was real.

Each and every night it was the same thing. She would be happy, hugging him and holding his hand, but right at the last minute, Voldemort or one of his followers would swoop down and kill them both. And right before the spell hit, she always heard the same thing. "Filthy Mudbloods don't deserve to be with Pureblooded Wizards. Every day Hermione wished she could escape the reality of the war.

She wished she could forget all of it. But at the same time, she knew she had to remember. She knew she had to carry around the memory of it, so it never happened again. Because of people like her, and Harry, and Ron and the Order, it would never happen again.

As she began to get ready for a restless night, an owl swooped in and interrupted her pattern. It was Ginny telling her to get ready to go clubbing and an address of the place they would meet. Hermione groaned and knew there was no way she could get out of this one. Ginny would just Apparate and steal her away anyway. So Hermione slipped on a flowy shirt and a short skirt with some nice heels, before apparating to the aforementioned club.

"Oh, Hermione! You came!" Ginny exclaimed when Hermione finally made her way over to Ginny. Hermione nodded and ordered a drink. Ginny didn't get to get out much, what with all of her brothers at home and her mother needing someone to help with the cleaning. Ginny spent the next half hour, explaining to Hermione just how pushy her mother was getting.

"She keeps hinting to Harry that in a few years, I won't be able to bear children. It's like, 'Come on, Mum! I'm only 17!' but she won't listen to me. I just wish it had worked out between you and Ron. Then you'd be going through the same thing as me." Ginny said jokingly to Hermione. Hermione laughed at this.

"The reason it didn't work out between me and Ron, is because he was getting EVERYTHING from Lavendar. Isn't your mum pushing Ron and Lavendar?" Hermione asked, nodding to the bartender to refill her drink. Ginny snorted.

"Of course she is, but Lavendar's enjoying. And so is Ron. I don't think they're gonna last much longer before Mum finally has Ron convinced that he should marry her. I bet you by this time next year, not only are they engaged, but Lavendar will be pregnant as well." Ginny said getting a refill on her drink.

"I'll take that bet. I have no doubt that'll happen."

"You coming this year to spend the Holidays with us?" Hermione knew the question was coming, she just wished she could have been a bit more prepared about it. She took a quick swig of her drink before answering that question.

"Can't. I decided to work through the Holidays so that my coworkers could be with their families."

"Bullshit. We both know the Ministry is nearly completely closed during the Holidays. Your department especially."

_Fuck. _

"Fine. I don't feel in the mood to celebrate anything. I mean. Everyone in your family is paired with someone else. I'll be the odd one out. Literally. Without me, everything will be even. Plus, Christmas was always something I spent with my parents. It feels wrong to spend this Christmas with anyone if they're not here." Hermione said, looking down at the ground. This was the honest to God truth, and she couldn't believe she was telling Ginny.

"Alright. I understand. But please, next year?" Ginny asked drinking a bit more.

"We'll see. That's a whole year from now. Things might be a bit different this time next year." Hermione said smiling. That's when she saw him. Her secret crush. He was just standing there, across the room. And he was looking as handsome as ever. She had little to no desire to talk with him. Things weren't the best between them. Plus, there was no way it would work out. No one in the world would understand.

"Hermione? Come on, let's dance." Ginny said, dragging Hermione's gaze away from the God that was her crush. She wished she could just talk to him about things, but she couldn't. He wouldn't want to talk to her anyway. Ginny and Hermione danced together, quickly getting the attention of a few guys. Hermione didn't want their attention, but she took what she got and danced.

She allowed herself to get lost in the beat of the music. The bass boomed in her ears, and her heart synced to the beat. She moved flawlessly in her heels, a trait she acquired naturally. While other girls had spent years perfecting the art of walking in heels, Hermione had no need of practicing, the talent already there in her perfectly formed legs. She hoped he was looking, hoped he was watching her.

After what felt like hours, Hermione removed herself from the dance floor, to get more alcohol. Ginny was soon by her side. They both took a few shots of their preferred poison before they were able to fully catch their breath. Hermione looked back to the place he had been before, and saw him standing there again. He was chatting with some friends of his from Hogwarts, his expression seeming bored and uninterested. Hermione looked down at the ground, but back up at him again. He was so handsome, he had grown into some wonderful person despite his oddities as a child.

Ginny, having tried multiple times to catch Hermione's attention, finally decided to see what she was so engrossed with. Hermione tore her eyes away from him, hoping to hide her secret from Ginny. But it was to no avail. Ginny saw.

"Do you have a crush on him?" Ginny was as surprised as Hermione knew she would be.

"Yes. But please don't tell anyone. He's not going to be interested in me, and it's just a small crush. It'll pass with time." Hermione said, but there was no truth in her voice. She had no idea when this crush would fade, or even if it would. She hoped it did, but she couldn't, wouldn't guarantee anything to herself.

"Well why wouldn't he be interested?" Ginny asked. She didn't understand.

"Look at him, at the way he just commands the attention of every girl in the room. Look at how handsome he is. Then look at me. I'm plain, not at all what he should be looking for in a girl. There's no way he could like me." Hermione said, her gaze drifting to the floor. She didn't want to stare at him and get lost in her thoughts again. There was a chance he would notice her staring and be freaked out.

"Clearly what you see and what I see are completely different." The new voice startled Hermione a bit. Not because it was someone intruding on a private conversation, but because of the voice itself. She knew the owner and wondered what he meant. She turned to look at her boss, the guy who somehow made it to a position above her. She looked at him with such an quizzical look he felt the need to explain.

"I see before me a beautiful woman who has blossomed from the smart, pretty girl she was in school to who she is today. I see a woman, who at one point or another tonight, has captured the attention and desire of every male and lesbian in this room. I also see a woman who's future is as bright as the sun and as filled with such wonders that no one would even begin to imagine what she will accomplish for our world." He said ordering a drink from the bartender.

"What do you mean? I'm a buck toothed know it all who's bossy and not at all attractive. You said so yourself, Malfoy." Hermione said throwing back another drink. Ginny watched the exchange with interested eyes. Malfoy wasn't lying about what he had said to Hermione. She thought she saw something there, that definitely wasn't there before, but maybe she was wrong. It couldn't be... could it?

"Yes, but that was before you fixed that tooth problem, with my help if I remember correctly. You are no longer a know it all, instead you're just smarter than the rest of us. And you're still bossy, but that's because you're a leader. I can call you bossy because you're my subordinate and I'm supposed to be the leader so it's just left over resentment. And unattractive is the exact opposite of what you are." Malfoy smiled slightly as Hermione thought all this through. He had eavesdropped on the entire conversation before he had entered, and knew that she fancied the guy across the room.

"Care to dance?" Malfoy asked sliding off his seat before holding his hand out towards Hermione. She looked at him with wide eyes.

"The best way to get a guy, is to make him jealous. So let's go make Longbottom jealous." And with that Malfoy nearly dragged Hermione onto the dance floor. Ginny stayed at the bar and watched the scene unfold before her. It was as if the entire club stopped just to watch the two dance. They melded perfectly together. The way Malfoy danced in perfect harmony to Hermione made her look absolutely stunning. And if Ginny hadn't already made very solemn and holding vows with Harry, she probably would have tried to make a move on Hermione.

Malfoy was right, within minutes of their entry on the dance floor, it was like watching dogs strategically fight for Alpha Male. It wasn't long before Neville won and was dancing with Hermione. Malfoy quickly returned to his seat and back to his drink. The bartender knew the look on his face and just left the bottle next to him. Malfoy took several drinks before Ginny decided to question him.

"Why'd you do that? Don't you like her?"

"I just wanted her to be happy. I've been in love with her since I saw her. But even at 11 I knew we could never be together. Not as long as my father and his stupid beliefs were still around. I wanted her to be happy, so I made damn sure she would never fall for me. Worst part is, my plan worked. So naturally, it's possible for us to be together, and now she wouldn't want me any more than she would a Basilisk." He drank some more, hoping to erase the pain he felt. Ginny could see it in his eyes.

"Well, shouldn't you at least try? It wouldn't hurt to try." Ginny said watching her best friend dance with Neville. Something didn't seem right about those two dancing. They looked like a cute couple, but they didn't have the same passion and friction between them as her and Malfoy had. Could that possibly mean something?

"It'll hurt too much. I just want to see her happy. And if that means helping her get another guy, so be it." Malfoy said nodding towards Hermione and Neville making out on the dance floor. He took another drink and a muttered a quick, and slightly angry, good bye. Ginny watched him leave, wishing she could some how help.

"Where'd Malfoy go? I wanted to thank him. Oh well. I'll see you later, Gin." Hermione said before leaving hand in hand with Neville. Ginny couldn't believe it, but she had made up her mind. She swore that she would help Draco get Hermione, so help her Merlin. If she didn't succeed, she didn't deserve the title of Meddling Bitch that she had worked so hard to receive.


	28. Changing

**A/N: So I had a large writing block and I couldn't really move it. I'm going through a whole bunch of stuff and I think this one shot pretty much embodies all of it. I hope you guys like it. For the first few paragraphs I couldn't write a damn word. Excuse the language. I hope to be updating a little more recently. I know I said that last time, but I start school next week and I'll have an actual schedule going that will give me time to write. So hopefully I will be able to update some more in the coming months. If not, I hope you enjoy this.**

**Changing**

Draco watched her from afar. She was much different than she had been before. She used to not care what people thought of her. She used to be able to walk the school halls like she owned them, head held high and no obstacles in her way. It didn't matter to her what she wore or how she looked. But that was years ago. Things were different now.

Draco hadn't seen her in four years. The last time he had seen her was graduation. She had been crying and hugging friends and family. Draco had been so envious of her. His parents had said he was foolish for going to the graduation. He had barely learned anything at that crackpot school. But Draco had wanted to go. He had learned lots of things at Hogwarts. And even had some good memories.

But now he wasn't envious of her. Shortly after graduation, he had gotten a good job at the Ministry; a nice desk job in the Improper Use of Magic office. A few months ago, Hermione Granger had been hired for a similar job. Draco had wanted the job because it wasn't a major job. He didn't want a job that made him look like he was trying to get back the power his family had once held. He just wanted to live a normal life, in a small apartment, barely getting by like all the other kids his age.

But Hermione could have had so much more. She was the smartest witch of the age and she could have had almost any job in the world. Draco had no idea what she had done for three and a half years after Hogwarts, but if she was here at this job, then something had gone wrong. Her first day had been a strange thing for him. When she walked in, Draco had barely recognized her. Their boss had put her in a cubicle just behind his. So he could see her clearly whenever he did anything.

He saw her everyday. She would walk in after him, her clothes pristine, her make up and hair were impeccable. But her eyes were dead, her face emotionless and cold. For the longest time Draco wasn't sure whether it was really Hermione Granger, the lively carefree girl who had hated him so much during school. But that was the name on the cubicle, that was the identity she was trying to sell. And there were small things Draco would notice that would clearly identify her as who she said she was.

A tiny murmur while she worked, the way she brushed her hair behind her ears whens he was thinking, the nervous tick of her eyes when she knew someone was watching her. Draco noticed the little things with her, and knew it was Hermione. And while she didn't look the way she used to, it was definitely her.

Months passed and while he noticed enough to make him sure it was Hermione, he didn't notice other things. He didn't notice the way her clothes hung on body, but there was nothing filling it out. He didn't notice the sallowness of her cheeks, the weary drift of her body when she stood for too long. He didn't notice the way she would close her eyes after a few hours, exhaustion hitting her. He didn't notice how badly she needed help.

Til one day when they ran into each other outside of work. Draco was at a small bakery picking up some pastries on a Sunday morning. As he stood in line, a woman came into the shop, saying a quick hello to the owners before rushing upstairs. It was Hermione.

She had been wearing a large sweatshirt and some baggy jeans. But when Draco saw her, he knew it was much more than that. He recognized those jeans as a pair she constantly wore to Hogsmeade. And while they fit her perfectly seven years ago, now they hung loosely on her hips and bagged around the thighs. And that jacket had once fit snugly on her, but now it looked many sizes too big. Hermione had lost weight, and not in a healthy way.

After that day Draco started to notice. She never ate at work. He would go on break at the same time as her, and would follow her. She just went outside and sat, talking on the phone some days, in complete silence others. But no matter how you looked at it, Hermione Granger was not the same girl that she had been in school.

Draco wished he could do something for her. Help her in someway, but he had no idea how to. Who could he reach out to? Potter and Weasel? They worked literally a floor away, and yet she never went to their floor. What had happened to Granger to make her so different? Draco was determined to find out. Not because he cared, but because it was the right thing to do.

As Hermione went upstairs for her break, her phone already out, Draco headed downstairs to the Auror office. He was never down here much. He had constant correspondence with the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, but the Aurors were out of his league. And Draco was fine with that. Eventually he wanted to see if he could be an Auror, but for now, he was fine with his desk job.

As he looked around the Auror office, he saw a cubicle with Potter's name on it. Potter was a much more reasonable person than Weasel, and was more likely to actually talk to Draco than Weasel. He knocked softly on the cubicle, trying to get his attention.

"Malfoy? What brings you down here?" Potter seemed surprised to see him.

"I was just wondering if you've talked to Granger recently?" No reason to start telling him things. A simple question to start off would do just fine.

"No. She said she was going on a backpacking trip. She wanted to go visit all these different countries before she started working. I haven't seen her since just after graduation. Why?" Draco had not been expecting that. So she had lied to her best friend? Why?

"No reason. I thought I saw her the other day, but I must have been mistaken. The woman I thought was her didn't look so well, so I was just making sure she was ok. But I'm glad to hear she's seeing the world. It must be amazing." Draco continued the conversation, talking politely with Harry. Apparently his wedding was soon, and he was getting nervous. Draco also found out that the Weasel had been killed last year. Apparently, he had joined the British Army, and had been sent to Iraq. He had died a hero. Draco gave his condolences to Harry and agreed to talk more with him. As Draco made his trip back up to his office, he wondered why Hermione would lie to Harry. He also wondered if she knew that Ron was dead?

Upon his return he found her still at break. He went back to work, but kept an eye out for Hermione. He needed to talk to her. As she came back in, her eyes looked red and puffy. She had been crying. She gave a quick glance at him, and then sat down at her cubicle. Draco spun around in his chair and watched her for a few minutes before she face him and stared him down.

"What do you want Malfoy?" She said quietly in a defeated voice. Every second he looked at her, Draco felt more and more sorry for her. He wanted to help her, do something for her. He hated seeing her like this. It made him feel more than guilty for the things he had said to her as a kid.

"I want to know why you lied to Harry about going on a backpacking trip across the world." He said it calmly and quietly. He didn't want her to get angry at him before he figured out what was wrong. She stared at him for a long while, and then looked away. But Draco wasn't going to give up. He asked her every day for a week before she finally gave in and told him everything.

"Because things were going on that I didn't want to involve Harry and Ron in. I wanted to be able to get over my problems alone. For the longest time I wanted privacy, and I couldn't get that as part of the Golden Trio. So I told everyone I was going backpacking, and instead stayed here." Hermione was reluctant to tell him, he could tell.

"Do you know about Ron dying?" Draco wasn't going to tip toe around the subject. She either knew, or she didn't.

"Yes. I heard in the news, but at least he did something with his life, right?" Hermione asked, looking Draco in the eyes. He nodded, holding her gaze.

"Can I ask one more question?" He asked, unsure of how to ask this next one. She nodded, but her eyes were guarded, uncertain of the question.

"What happened to you? Something is different about you, and you don't seem like the girl I knew in school. I want to know what happened, what changed you so much that I barely recognized you when you walked through those doors?" Draco said looking genuinely concerned. And he was. Though he had no feelings for Hermione Granger, he felt a sort of obligation to make sure she was alright. He seemed to be the only friend she had right now, and he wasn't much of one at the moment.

But just like before she stared at him for a long time, before turning away and going back to work. Draco was going to get her tell him what happened. Even if he had to force it out of her mouth. But as he turned towards work himself, he had a plan to get Hermione back to the girl she used to be.

The next day, as Hermione went on break, he followed her, but this time he grabbed her arm and steered her into the break room.

"Malfoy, what are you doing?" She asked, her hands on her hips. Draco went for the fridge and retrieved a large lunch bag.

"Eating lunch with you." He said as he started setting out food. He locked the door with wandless magic, and pulled out the chair for her to sit in.

"Malfoy, I'm not hungry." She said, but her eyes came alive and said otherwise.

"I haven't seen you eat since Hogwarts. Now sit. And eat." He said maneuvering her into a chair. In front of her were some nice fluffy biscuits and mashed potatoes with gravy. He magically heated them up, and wafted the smell towards her. There was also a large tupperware filled with a traditional Irish meal called Corned Beef Hash. It was Draco's personal favorite. Mainly just onions, corned beef, scrambled eggs, and potato chunks mixed into a delicious meal.

"So demanding. I'd think you had a fetish for watching people eat." Hermione said tentatively grabbing a fork. She took a small bite of the mashed potatoes and picked off some parts of the biscuit before claiming she was full. Draco got her a cup of tea and made her drink the entire thing. For the rest of lunch they sat and talked, and Draco wouldn't let her leave until she had a few more bites of at least something. She tried the Corned Beef Hash, taking a few bites of it just to make him stop bugging her.

Draco did the same thing every day. A different meal of course, but he would always go on break at the same time as her and make her eat and talk to him. After a few months of making her go in the break room, she walked in there willingly. Day by day she ate a little bit more food. It never got exponentially more, but it was at least a little progress.

He learned that before seventh year she had obliviated her parents into forgetting about her and that she still hadn't managed to reverse it. He found out that she and Ron had dated for only a few months before going through a nasty break up that tore their friendship apart. He had learned that for those three years she had been going to Muggle college and was taking classes. She had gotten a degree in Literature and wanted to be an author. However, she needed money and this was the only job she had managed to get. Draco thought he was really getting somewhere with her.

Then one day she didn't show up for work. Draco didn't really think anything of it. She may have gotten sick or had a family emergency to deal with. But when that one day turned into a week, he started to worry. Then that one week turned into a month. He went back to that bakery where he had seen her before and asked the owners about her. They said that she had gone to the hospital almost a month ago in the middle of the night, and hadn't come back.

Draco ran to the hospital, scared that something bad had happened to her. When he got there, the nurse told him that Hermione Granger had passed away the previous night.

"She finally succumbed to the cancer." The nurse said as Draco clutched the counter.

"Cancer?"

"Yes, she had been diagnosed with leukemia nearly three and a half years ago. We thought she had been doing so well during Chemotherapy, but I guess it wasn't going as well as we thought. Do you happen to know Draco Malfoy?" The nurse asked.

"That's me." Draco wasn't sure why the nurse would ask his name. Could Hermione have left him something?

"Miss Granger left a note for you." A white slip of paper was slid across the counter towards Draco. He took the paper, cautious of what it would hold.

_Dear Draco,_

_These last few months have been amazing. I knew I should have told you about the cancer earlier. I wish I had. Maybe then I wouldn't be here on my deathbed alone. But you were a good friend to me the last few months. You made me eat, gave me someone to talk to about anything. When you asked what had happened to me, I wanted to tell you. But I wasn't sure how you would take it. You said I had changed so much since Hogwarts. Well so have you. And luckily, it was for the better. You are a good man, Draco Malfoy. I hope you know that. Please don't change too much now. Please tell Harry. I don't want him to keep waiting for me to return. I shouldn't have lied to him in the first place. I am so sorry. _

_My deepest regards,_

_Hermione Granger_

As Draco read the note, he felt the tears streaming down his face. He had told himself so many times that he had done this not because he cares but because it was the right thing to do. But he had lied to himself. He cared. He had cared so much for Hermione, it had been hard to watch her waste away. And now she was gone and he would never know what could have been.

He told Harry what had happened, and showed him the note. Harry cried, hating himself for not recognizing her whenever he saw her in the Atrium. Draco planned her memorial service, and while very few people showed, it was probably more than Hermione had expected.

Draco never went back to the desk job at the Improper Use of Magic office. Instead he applied to a job as a Healer. He spent years in training and eventually made it to Healer. He worked at St. Mungo's healing those who were sick and making them better. And in his spare time, researched a cure for cancer. By the time he died at 78 years old, he was famous for creating a cure. While it had come too late for so many, it would save a million lives all the same. And as he lay on his death bed, no children or grandchildren to speak of, he was completely alone, like Hermione.

"I have dedicated my life to helping people, to changing the fates design. I hope you're proud of me Hermione. I hope you've seen what I've done." Draco closed his eyes, hoping to see that great white light everyone talked about.

"I have, and I'm so proud of you, Draco." Hermione said to him. He opened his eyes to see her laying next to him, her eyes as brown as he remembered them, her face smooth and not a day over 21. She was there, beside him smiling and welcoming him.

"You're so beautiful." Draco said touching her cheek. She laughed, a beautiful sensational laugh he hadn't heard in so many years. She took his hand, and pulled him into a sitting position.

"Everyone is beautiful in death."


	29. Once Upon a Dream

**A/N: So this is the same story as Changing, but from Hermione's point of view. Many thanks to EsemmeTresemme, and Lilith Jinx for reviewing. And also to anyone who favorited my story or added it to their alerts. :) it means a lot to me. **

**So please enjoy this. next are sequels to Shot and This Christmas. and I'm sorry if this or the last one makes/made anyone cry. **

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**Once Upon a Dream**

Hermione had been doing everything right. She had a wonderful job and a nice place to stay. She had friends and hung out with them whenever she could. But something was wrong. She felt sick all the time, and was always exhausted. She never really took notice of it until one day at work she passed out. When she awoke in the hospital, the Healers told her that it was Leukemia and gave her a time frame of a year or two.

When she found out, she wanted to give up on everything. She left her job, gave up her apartment, and disconnected herself from her friends. She would not, could not allow them to go through this. It would be hard enough to say good bye to them now, saying good bye then would be unbearable. She wouldn't put them through that. How could she?

So she told them she was going to America, to Germany, to Australia, to Iceland. She said she wanted to backpack across the world, figure out on her own time what she wanted to do with her life. It wasn't all a lie. Hermione wished she could go on that trip, she wished she could travel around the world and see everything that was out there. But she had a disease to fight. Maybe if she fought it, she could live. Eventually go on that trip.

But Hermione didn't do anything. The first year she took a few classes here and there at a local college, and stayed in a small apartment just above a bakery. During that year she went through chemo. She wasn't sure if it was going to work, but she had some hope. As long as she kept up hope, maybe someday she could have the life she always wanted.

Years passed and she remained alive. It was a shock to her and the doctors. They had been so sure that the Leukemia was going to win against her. No matter how hard she fought, the doctors had said that the she would not, and could not win. Hermione had done all she could, the time limit they had once given her had passed. It was only a matter of time before she too passed.

After a while the chemo stopped working. Hermione, thin and weak, looked for a job, hoping to be able to pay off some school debts before she died. The chemo had nearly destroyed her, but there was still some of her left over. Every day when she looked in the mirror, she thought how disgusting she looked, how gross she was. She had no hair to speak of, a wig covering up her bald head. She was pale and slightly thin, her eyes dead. But no matter how much she wanted to be pretty, and look normal, she couldn't.

She could barely get herself out of bed in the morning, could barely drag herself to work. Things were bad. She had no will to live anymore. And no will to eat. Her small apartment on top of the bakery was quaint, but messy. She could barely get to and from work, making her place look acceptable was too much. She knew it was going to be any day now.

When Hermione had finally gotten a job, she found that to her horror, she would be working near Draco Malfoy. She prayed every time she walked into that office that he wouldn't recognize her. That he wouldn't realize who she was and would just stay away from her. She wished that he would never say anything to her. These were her dying days, why did they have to be spent near him?

But for the longest time, he said nothing. He barely even looked at her. Then she started noticing him following her to break. She had no idea why, because she didn't do anything interesting. Most of the time she was on the phone with her doctor, always persuading him to just euthanize her. But he never would. And if she wasn't on the phone with him, she was on the phone with Ally, another cancer patient she had met months back. They talked about what they were going through.

Hermione was farther down the line than Ally, but Ally seemed to be responding well to chemotherapy. Hermione always wished Ally would make it through, even though Hermione wouldn't. Hermione made a point of calling Ally during chemo sessions. Never wanting her to be alone during that time. Hermione always wished she had someone to talk to during chemo.

But after a few months, Draco finally talked to her. Hermione was prepared for him to make fun of her, but she wasn't expecting what actually happened. "I want to know why you lied to Harry about going on a backpacking trip across the world." He said it calmly and quietly. Hermione was taken aback by what he said. Did she seriously hear him correctly? Did he go and talk to Harry about her? Was he concerned for her? As far as Hermione knew, no one had felt concerned for her in a long time.

For a month he asked her the same question every day. Hermione had no idea why he was so persistent to know. But finally Hermione told him as close to the truth as she wanted to get. He asked her whether she knew about Ron, which she did. She missed Ron. He was a good friend, but would never have understood the common Muggle disease she now suffered from.

But when Draco asked Hermione the question of what had changed her so much, she couldn't bring herself to answer it. She couldn't tell him. He wouldn't have understood. Although cancers had been detected among a few wizards, it wasn't as common as among Muggles. The fact that Hermione was Muggle born made her a little more prone than all those around her. And here she was, cancerous.

Hermione wanted him to ask for days. She wanted to tell Draco what had happened to her, but she didn't want to at the same time. The next day, when Draco steered Hermione towards the break room, she was confused. She hadn't been able to eat for months because the chemo had left her stomach in less than functioning order. All those times of throwing up after eating, had also left Hermione nauseous of food.

So when Draco planted the potato dishes in front of Hermione, she hadn't had an actual meal in months. She wasn't anorexic. But technically speaking she was. Hermione hadn't wanted anyone to know that she was anorexic. She hadn't really had a choice. But she was. She couldn't eat. She ate tiny bites of the food, answering Draco's questions, talking politely with him. It was the polite, friendly thing to do.

This continued on every day for months. Hermione had lived a full 3-4 years longer than the doctor had said and she started to think maybe she was getting better. She thought maybe she could have that life she wanted. Travel the world and see all those places, maybe get married and settle down. Maybe she would get married to Draco. Something about him was different. He was not the cruel boy he had been at Hogwarts. He was gentle, and charming and chivalrous.

With him she had more fun in a few months than she had in five years. She had thought her life was over. She had all but condemned herself to death. And yet, he was trying to save her. Unknowing of his actions of course, but he was still trying to help her.

But it wasn't enough. The food, the conversations, the nice smiles in the hallways. They weren't enough to save Hermione from what had already taken her. One day she walked into the bakery, bags of groceries in her hands. She had finally decided to try eating on her own. Finally decided to have more than just lunch with Draco. As she tried to make it up the stairs, her vision grew dark and her head felt light.

She awoke once again in the hospital, feeling worse than she had in a long time. She felt weaker than she had during chemo, and more fragile than she had ever before. Hermione cursed herself for not telling Draco what had happened to her. And she tried to get someone to contact him for her. But the stroke had taken her ability to speak. And her ability to walk and stand. She would finish out her days, in a bed with no one at her side.

Hermione felt it coming before it got there. The Leukemia was killing her, and it was taking its sweet time with it. The night before she slipped away, she managed to find a piece of paper in the nightstand beside her bed. She mimed at the nurse for a pen, and was able to write a note to the nurse asking her to do something for her. Then she began the note, her last conversation to Draco Malfoy.

_Dear Draco,_

_These last few months have been amazing. I knew I should have told you about the cancer earlier. I wish I had. Maybe then I wouldn't be here on my deathbed alone. But you were a good friend to me the last few months. You made me eat, gave me someone to talk to about anything. When you asked what had happened to me, I wanted to tell you. But I wasn't sure how you would take it. You said I had changed so much since Hogwarts. Well so have you. And luckily, it was for the better. You are a good man, Draco Malfoy. I hope you know that. Please don't change too much now. Please tell Harry. I don't want him to keep waiting for me to return. I shouldn't have lied to him in the first place. I am so sorry._

_My deepest regards,_

_Hermione Granger_

Hermione cried as she wrote the note, knowing she would never see his soft grey eyes again, knowing she would never hear his voice again. She hoped he would do something with his life. That one day he would get away from that stupid job he worked now. Hermione for the first time in years, lifted her eyes up to the heavens and silently prayed that Draco would remain the great and wonderful man she had come to know those last few months.

The nurse, as was requested, put in Hermione's favorite movie, _Sleeping Beauty_. And as Aurora lay on that bed, asleep until True Love's kiss would wake her, Hermione closed her eyes and slipped into her own wake-less sleep. But no kiss would awaken Hermione. While Aurora would some day wake to find her true love, Hermione never would.


	30. When Everything Goes Wrong

**A/N: Ok so I wanted to make this longer, but I don't have an idea for the second half. Hope you enjoy this. Sorry I haven't updated sooner... I've been reading other Dramione's and getting ideas. **

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**When Everything Goes Wrong**

Hermione took a deep, shuddering breath as pain shot up her left leg. Last night had been rough on her and she was still experiencing some phantom pains. She looked at her hands, caked in blood and dirt and she knew that the rest of her looked the same way. Except much worse. She brought her knees to her chest, and closed her eyes wishing this could all be over.

She heard footsteps, and fearfully picked her head up. She was sitting against the back wall, a large wooden door directly across from her. There was a small window covered by bars, but other than that nothing. It was a large room, grey stone walls, and a grey flat stone floor. She had been here for five months, and wanted desperately to get out of there. She thought back to how she got there.

_They ran as fast as they could. Hermione shot a quick jinx at Harry and another at Ron, they could not be caught like this. No one could know who they were. But they kept running, fearful for their lives and each other. For months their world had slowly been crumbling apart and today, Hermione was sure, it would end._

_She felt something wrap around her ankles, before falling flat on her face. Harry and Ron looked back at her, stopping dead in their tracks._

_"GO! GET OUT OF HERE!" Hermione screamed at them, tears streaming down their face. Ron started running, but Harry refused to leave. "Just go!" Hermione whispered furiously as she felt herself over taken by the Snatchers. Harry started running, continually looking over his shoulder at her. He hated leaving her behind. He didn't want to be handing her to the dogs._

_Hermione felt someone's hands wrap around her arms and pull her up forcefully. She found herself looking into Fenrir Greyback's ugly mug._

_"'Ello, gorgeous. What's your name, pet?" He asked breathing on her face. Hermione scrunched her face up at the smell, and turned away._

_"P-Penelope Clearwater." Hermione said weakly. She hoped and prayed with all her might that they believed her. And that Ron and Harry got away._

_"Blood status?"_

_"Ha-Half Blood." Hermione was so scared. She had never been more scared in her entire life._

_"She's clear." A voice said behind her. Hermione breathed in relief. She had a right to be, she was cleared._

_But before she could fully celebrate her soon to be freedom, a loud _Crack! _surprised her._

_"New orders. All prisoners are to be taken to Malfoy Manor. Regardless of blood status. Who's this?" Hermione felt her heart sink. She closed her eyes, silently begging them to kill her right then and there. If they didn't, the Malfoy's would._

_Hermione thought that for once, her day couldn't get any worse. But then she heard shouting, and deep voices. Familiar voices. And her heart fell through the ground. Harry and Ron had been captured. As they came into view, Hermione saw that the jinx was already wearing off. How could that be? She had tried her best to make sure it worked for a long time!_

_"Look who I found! Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. It's our lucky day, boys!" A Snatcher said following them. Two Snatchers were on each boy with a fifth one following behind. Ron and Harry couldn't have escaped now, no matter how hard they tried. Hermione started to cry some more. She had no idea what this meant for the war, for them, for the Wizarding Community at large. But she had a pretty good idea that it wasn't good._

* * *

_They stood in the foyer of the Malfoy Manor, awaiting judgement on their lives. Hermione wanted to be optimistic and say that everything was going to be ok. She wanted to think that they would find some way out of this mess like they had with every other mess they got themselves into. But a voice in the back of her head told her to give it up and accept her fate._

_Hermione heard clicking hills and was aware of someone approaching them. She gulped down her tears and hoped that her voice would work. Bellatrix Lestrange came into view and Hermione knew it was over. The moment Bellatrix saw Harry, her grim expression brightened. She saw Ron and was equally excited. Then her eyes turned to Hermione. A sick, twisted grin washed over her face, her eyes manic._

_"Oh, oh! Cissy! Lucius! Draco! Come see our lovely guests!" She cackled insanely, and Hermione knew it was over. She looked at her best friends and brothers. A silent goodbye in her eyes. She was a Mudblood. She would either be first to die, or tortured for years and years until they finally gave her mercy and ended it. Harry shook his head at her look, he was still defiant that they would live, still sure that they would find a way out of this. Ron dropped his gaze from hers. He had given up long ago._

_"The Dark Lord will be so pleased. Please, Cissy. Let me call him. Let him treasure our discovery!" Bellatrix whispered excitedly to her sister. Narcissa Malfoy had come into the foyer and she looked unwell. All the Malfoy's did. When Draco came into view, he saw the trio and almost stumbled back. He couldn't believe they had been captured. He had been so sure that they would find a way to kill Voldemort and rid this world of him forever. But here they stood, and he knew most of them wouldn't make it the night._

_"You mean us. Because we did actually find them." Fenrir spoke up, limping towards Bellatrix. She shot him a glare and dug around in her coin purse for some galleons. She paid the Snatchers and told them to leave and find more 'Mudbloods'. Hermione cringed at the word._

_"By all means, Bellatrix. Call him." Lucius' voice was strained, as if it pained him to allow the trio to be caught. Hermione wasn't sure if Ron or Harry caught it, but she was sure that the Malfoy's seemed extremely disappointed and frightened that they had been caught. Hermione suddenly realized that the Malfoy's had probably been relying on them to destroy the Dark Lord. And they were supposed to be on his side._

_Hermione suddenly thought of all the people out there. The Weasley's, her parents, the Order members, young kids at Hogwarts who had all put their faith in her and Ron and Harry. And the weight of what was going on crashed down on her. She felt as if she had let down so many people. Their disappointment, their fear and hurt, she could feel all of it all of a sudden. Hermione took a deep shuddering breath, she was scared and had no idea whether she would live to see another day._

_Bellatrix had called him. He was on his way. Hermione looked up, her eyes desperate. She found Draco's eyes. Those shivering cold pools of grey held something more than hatred and disgust. They held sorrow, pity, and fear. Hermione pleaded to him with her eyes, begging him to help her, to save Harry. He was the only one who could destroy the Dark Lord. It had to be him. But she could see his answer. He couldn't do anything. He hadn't the power._

_"What do we have here?" The cold voice sent shivers down Hermione's spine. She had never heard his voice before. She had never seen his face. She had expected a handsome charming man, but the man who walked towards her was no man. He was a snake. And it scared her more than anything._

_"Ah, Harry Potter. How are you, dear boy? Does your scar still hurt, when I touch you?" He asked as he put a finger on Harry's scar. Hermione could see the pain. While it had gotten better over the years, it still hurt. "Yes, it does. And who do we have here?" You-Know-Who turned to Bellatrix as he looked at Ron._

_"He is the youngest Weasley boy. A blood traitor." Bellatrix said excitedly. He nodded and smiled at Ron._

_"A pureblood. I can promise you glory and honor and riches beyond your wildest dreams. Join us, boy, and you can be among the most rich and powerful wizards alive." You-Know-Who's proposition was enticing. But Hermione was sure that if Ron did join, You-Know-Who would immediately regret his decision. Ron wasn't the best wizard around._

_"I would never join your side, you demented lunatic!" Ron yelled. Even Hermione knew that he had just signed his Death Warrant._

_"Avada Kedavra!" Ron fell dead to the ground. Hermione looked away, unable to take seeing his dead body. Bellatrix laughed madly, giggling at the blood traitor's body. Draco couldn't look at it, instead he watched Granger. She was crying softly, her eyes looking anywhere but Weasley's body. Draco wanted to comfort her, but he knew that was a direct line to the same place as Weasley._

_"Now, now Miss Granger. No crying. I believe my followers have some plans for you. Please, Bellatrix, take good care of her. She may yet prove useful." Bellatrix stepped forward and grabbed Hermione. But she resisted._

_"What are you going to do with me?" She asked staring You-Know-Who in his dark red eyes._

_"Put you in your place, girl." He said, seemingly appalled that she was even looking at him._

_"And Harry?"_

_"Oh, we're going to have our fun with him. But don't worry. You'll be there for his execution. We wouldn't want you to miss it." Hermione was dragged screaming from the room as The Dark Lord stood laughing._

* * *

Hermione had survived Harry only four months. He had spent four weeks constantly being tortured. She knew that pictures of his mangled unconscious body had been sent to the Order, Hogwarts, and Prophet. Voldemort wanted everyone to know that the great Harry Potter was at _his_ mercy. When Hermione had been brought out of the dungeon for Harry's execution, they had brought out Ron's body as well. It had been greatly defaced and hung up for all to see.

_Bellatrix had tortured Hermione all month long asking if there was a way for them to show the world the tragic death of the Chosen One. Hermione never told them anything. It had, in fact, been Harry who spilled the beans on cameras. Bellatrix giggled as she Imperio'd a Muggle into working the camera. He looked happy, but Hermione knew his fate all to well. If he was lucky, they would kill him outright._

_Hermione was meant to watch the execution from the front row. She was supposed to kneel during the entire thing. Hermione felt degraded and humiliated. She had been put not only in shackles around her wrists, but a metal collar connected to chains held by her captors. She had barely any clothing on. They had taken her clothes early on, and made her wear a nearly see through slip._

_As she knelt on the floor, her chains held by MacNair, she wished she had tears left to shed. But after weeks of torture, and screaming, Hermione had no tears left in her._

_"Welcome, my dear friends, to the Execution of Harry James Potter." You-Know-Who started looking towards the camera._

_"And may I introduce our guests of honor? We have here, the lovely Hermione Granger. Starting tomorrow, her training begins and within no time we'll have the first Mudblood slave. While she will be the most expensive, she will be a rewarding prize for the man, or woman, who can afford her. And here, we have Ronald Billius Weasley. Blood traitor. Unfortunately he was killed over a month ago, and it seems the Death Eaters have shown their proper respects to him." You-Know-Who spoke calmly as if he was actually introducing guests at a dinner party._

_Hermione looked over at Ron's body and nearly screamed. He was stark naked, entrails spilling out from a large hole in his stomach, his skin nearly all peeled off and his private areas massacred. Hermione looked away quickly, unable to look at the horrible image any longer._

_"And our main guest of the evening, Harry James Potter. The Chosen One. Smile for the camera Harry. Harry here, has merely moments to live. Any last words, Harry?"_

_"Ya, I have a few last words. Fuck you, Tom!" Harry's voice was weak, and raspy from screaming. Hermione had heard them from the dungeons. They had tortured Harry. And they broke him._

_"Tsk, tsk. That's not very nice Potter. Crucio." The words were spoken so calmly, that Hermione was shocked at how loud Harry screamed. She could hear the pain in his voice._

_"Alright, now. Does anyone have anything to say to Potter before we execute him for his crimes?" She could feel You-Know-Who's gaze turn to her._

_"Does Miss Granger have any words to share with her friend and savior before he dies?"_

_Hermione stood up, and began walking towards Harry, when she was choked by her chains. The Dark Lord must have allowed it, because they soon slackened and she could talk directly to Harry without being over heard._

_"Harry, I love you so much. Stay strong just a few more minutes. Be stronger than them when you die. We both know that we won't get out of this one. But stay strong Harry. Please for me! For Ron." She said quietly, wishing she could give him a hug._

_"I'll try. I love you too, Hermione. I'll say hi to Ron for you. At least I'll be reunited with my parents, right?" Harry asked giving her a weak smile. She nodded, tears slipping down her face._

_"You stay strong, Hermione. Don't let them break you, like they broke me. Don't give in. You are strong and you best stay strong. I'll always be watching over you, 'Mione." He said quietly, gulping loudly. Hermione started sobbing, she couldn't believe this was good bye between her and Harry. But at least she got to say goodbye to him._

_"I love you!" She screamed as she was forced back to her seat. Harry smiled at her, tears streaming down his face. He turned his eyes to Voldemort, unafraid and defiant._

_"Bring it." He whispered to Voldemort. For about ten minutes, Voldemort tortured Harry with curses like 'Sectumsempra' and others Hermione had never heard of. She wanted to scream, to look away from this, but she couldn't. Someone behind her was holding her face in the direction of Harry. She was literally being forced to watch her friend die in front of her._

_Finally after what felt like hours of torture, Voldemort finally said the words. "Avada Kedavra." Harry's body went limp. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. It was over. But then the Death eaters surged forward, and they began the destruction of Harry's body. They slit his throat, did all they could to him. They did to him what they had done to Ron, but worse. Much worse. Hermione cried violently, unable to look away._

_"So sorry for your loss, Mudblood. Tomorrow, you will be returned to your rightful place. As a slave for purebloods. For your sake, I hope you're not a virgin." Lucius said quietly to her before walking away. Hermione closed her eyes, wishing she could admit defeat. Wishing she could give up and die right here. She would rather die than go through what Harry went through. She would rather die, than be in the company of these people a second longer. But she had no control over her life anymore. All she could control was how bad she was tortured._

* * *

Hermione waited, as the footsteps drew closer. For four months she had been raped, beaten, Crucio'd and much, much worse. Every day she would be healed so that they could do the same thing again the next day. Every night Hermione cried herself to the unconsciousness she called sleep. It was more like her body shutting down for an hour or two before she was beaten awake by some Death Eater.

Hermione listened for the door to click. Waited for some hint of who was coming her way. Each Death Eater had their own little routine when they came down to beat her or rape her. She had figured out their moves so she could prepare herself for what lay ahead. The soft padded footsteps alerted her to the presence of one Draco Malfoy. He was coming for her today.

He had never joined in on the beatings or the rapings. From what she gathered, he was in charge of a different portion of her training. Needless to say, Hermione wasn't eager for it.

But as he approached the door she made her way silently over to that side of her cell.

"Hermione." He whispered quietly.

"Draco." She replied, letting him know she was there.

"In a month the beatings and rape will stop. Bellatrix thinks you're almost ready for the second part of training. You have to be as obedient as you can the next few weeks. They're starting to trust you. They're starting to believe they broke you. Hang in there Hermione. Please." He said quietly. Hermione felt warm tears run down her cheeks. Only a few more weeks.

Silence. She knew he was still there. And she knew there was a question he wanted to ask, but didn't want the answer to.

"Just ask." She said quietly, preparing herself.

"What have they done to you?"

Hermione wasn't sure how to respond.

"They rape me, beat me until I am obedient, and rape me some more. Then when they leave, they heal me so that tomorrow I am not weak. Four months ago, before it started, Bellatrix took out my uterus. I can not get pregnant. Ever." Hermione said, her voice emotionless and cold. Draco wanted to shudder as he heard the things they had done to her.

"But what does it matter. I will be a slave for the rest of my life." Hermione said, and Draco could hear it in her voice. She had given up. She was defeated.

"No, Hermione. Don't think like that. Don't you dare think like that. Stay strong. Think of Harry, of Ron! Think of your parents and Hogwarts. This isn't over. Stay strong and never give up. You hear me?" Draco asked reaching through the bars to hold her face. She leaned into his palm, sighing in contentment.

"I'll try, Draco I really will." Hermione said wishing he could whisk her away from here. But he couldn't. It was impossible for him to.

"I have to go. But take this and eat it quickly." Draco handed her a red apple through the bars. It looked so juicy and delicious. Hermione smiled at him through the bars. And Draco saw the slight flicker of spark in her eyes. She was still there, the Gryffindor Princess he had known during school was still there.

He didn't remember exactly when it was that he fell in love with her. It may have been just a few months ago when he first saw her at the Mansion. It could have been in Fifth year when she stood up to Umbridge. It could have been fourth year when he saw her at the Yule Ball. Hell, it could have been third year when she punched him. But it didn't matter when, Draco loved Hermione and would do anything at this point to protect her. He had a plan to make sure she stayed safe and well. He just wished it would work out.


	31. Beautiful Melody

**A/N: So it's a little shorter than normal but I'm currently suffering from writer's block. I'll try to update tomorrow sometime but I make no promises. I have two really good ideas for two more chapters. Hope you enjoy this it took me quite a while to write. :)**

* * *

**Beautiful Melody**

Hermione stared at the computer screen. She had gone over the song hundreds of times. She had taken up guitar a few months after graduating from Hogwarts. She had heard this guy sing amazing along with his guitar on the Muggle site, YouTube. And she wanted to try the whole singing and playing thing. It was hard at first. But she learned how to do it. Strumming was the hardest part. Now all that was left was find the perfect song to debut on.

She looked at the song. It was slow, and wasn't hard on vocal. She was ready to do this. Hermione positioned the guitar just right. She didn't want a clear view of her face, but she wasn't going to copy the other guitarist and show just the guitar. That had been the appeal, that she couldn't see his voice all she could hear was his voice and the guitar. It was amazing.

Hermione finally found the right position and practiced the song one more time. She was hoping to record it a few times, pick the best one. Make sure it was perfect before she put it out there for the rest of the world to see. Hermione hit the record button and performed her song. After she was done, she shifted the guitar a little so she could listen to the song. Her finger hovered over the play button, and she took a deep breath in. She wasn't really sure if she wanted to hear what she sounded like.

But she played it, and listened with closed eyes to her voice. It wasn't half bad. It actually sounded... good. The song was perfect. She didn't have to record it multiple times. This was perfect. She uploaded to YouTube. She had done it. A year after graduating from Hogwarts, and only a few months after learning the guitar, she had recorded a song and put it out there for everyone to see. Well, she had recorded a cover. The song was Back Home by Yellowcard. She felt it was perfect, because after graduating from Hogwarts, and leaving Ron, she had moved to America.

Hermione was quite sure why she moved to America in the first place. But every where she went in England, it was a reminder of the war and all the people who had died during it. After a while she couldn't take it. She had to move, and to a place that wasn't packed with memories. America made the most sense. She lived in San Diego, California. It was beautiful. While she wasn't ever going to get a white Christmas here, she wasn't too far from skiing. Plus now she had surfing.

And it was much sunnier. She closed her laptop and took a look outside. The middle of January and the sun was shining brightly. Hermione shook her head, unable to believe it. She stood up and took a walk outside. Grey clouds rolled overhead many miles away, the promise of a nice shower a ways off. Hermione enjoyed the neighborhood she lived in. Even if you walked around every day for ten years, in the eleventh year, you'd still be finding things you hadn't seen before.

Hermione had applied to the University of San Diego, hoping to further her education even more. She knew an actual degree would help her get a job just about anywhere in the world. After she actually received her degree, all she had to do was figure out what she wanted to do with her life. That was the only question Hermione had been unable to answer for years.

She realized she'd been gone for awhile and decided to begin the journey back to her house. Upon her return, she opened her laptop to see what had happened with the video. Hermione wasn't freaking out about it, she just wanted to know other people's opinions. She was nervous, but she knew she shouldn't be. If people liked it, fabulous, if not, oh well.

21 hits. She had been gone an hour and already 21 hits. And a video response? What was that? She clicked on the link, and there was the musician who had inspired her new musical career. There he sat, his face hidden, his long fingers gracefully caressing the neck of the guitar. Hermione smiled as he started to strum, the song was entitled Follow You Home. He was doing a cover of a song by Nickelback. It was amazing. He copied the rough singing style of the lead singer but added his own style to it. It was very good.

Underneath the video, the musician had added _To the Beautiful groundedgurl919. I'll follow you anywhere. Keep singing. _

Hermione smiled and nearly giggled like a little girl when she saw that he used her username. She hadn't said anything about being a fan of his. But nonetheless, it looked like he was a fan of hers. She looked at the list of guitar chords she had saved. She wanted to reply to his video with something. Her list of songs was not large, but she could learn new ones. She tried to figure out what song would go best now.

Hermione thought of this as a conversation. And she needed something to say next. Currently the conversation was her talking about home, and him saying that he would follow her. Which was a little weird when you thought about it. Her next song? She looked through her list of songs and found another slow song that was an absolute classic. It was easy enough, nothing hard.

The only thing she was hesitant about was the fact that this was something she never did. Sometimes Hermione felt like she wasn't really the person she used to be at Hogwarts. She had changed so much over the past few months, and she knew that her friends would even recognize her. Her hair was a nice dirty blonde, and her skin was beautifully tanned. And she was so much more out there than she used to be.

She was no longer the know-it-all bookworm. She was a smart, and beautiful college student. Though she would never admit out loud that she thought she was beautiful.

She recorded the video, and watched it. After another recording, it was perfect for publishing and showing to him. Whoever this guy was, it was for him.

Hermione was a little nervous letting him hear this song. But she wanted to do it all the same. She uploaded the video as a response to his response and also gave a little shout out to him. _To the Amazing goldhunter65. You are more inspiration than I could ask for. _Hermione smiled as she hit save. This was a big step and, while the Hermione she used to know at Hogwarts wouldn't have done something like this. She wouldn't have done something this bold.

* * *

He watched her video over and over again. He couldn't place her voice but it sounded so familiar. But, the tag on her profile said she was from America. He didn't know any Americans. Did he?

This new video was entitled 'Some Day My Prince Will Come'. He was very flattered that she had replied with this. He hadn't really been expecting this, but her voice sounded amazing and he kind of enjoyed the boldness. He knew he had to reply. But the question was what to reply with? He quickly scrolled through his iTunes. He did that when he couldn't think of a song to sing. He would go through his music on shuffle and find a song that he liked that he hadn't thought of.

He found it. The perfect song to sing for her. He knew it was a little girly, but it would be unexpected and if done right, would actually sound very good. So he started working on the song. Within an hour or so he had the song finished. He recorded it and just uploaded it immediately. He didn't want to listen to it til after it was up. If he did something wrong on the first shot, then those who listened would call him out on it. The whole point of this was to get better.

'You Belong With Me' was the song he had chosen. He also wrote his little note, so that she would see he was still continuing this conversation with her. _To groundedgurl919. A rose by any other name would smell as sweet. _

He knew it was cheesy, the song and that line, but there was something different about this girl. Something he wanted to get to the bottom of.

Within a day or so, she had a reply. He nearly burst out laughing at the song she had picked. It wasn't a famous song, but that didn't matter. She still sang it beautifully. The song was 'Slow Down' By Ali and AJ. He had to admit that she picked a good song.

But he couldn't help replying with yet another Taylor Swift song. 'Love Story'. But the real reason he performed that song was because of the little note the girl had added. _To goldhunter65. My name is Hermione. Yours?_

* * *

_To groundgurl919. Draco. I miss you._

Hermione smiled as she saw the name and the song. She had really started to miss Draco...


	32. Valentine's Day

**A/N: This is the sequel to This Christmas. I know it took awhile. and it's after Valentine's Day, but you can't control what you write. Or when you write it. Enjoy :)**

* * *

**Valentine's Day**

**.**

**...**

**.**

Valentine's Day. It was worse than Christmas. Draco glared at the television set. He couldn't believe he had gotten one, but he also couldn't believe the trash like commercials that were allowed to be on here. He had endured the Christmas Commercials, but with Valentine's Day coming up, it was all really too much. It had been two months, and Hermione was still with Longbottom. Two months and Draco and Ginny still hadn't figured out how to separate the two and get Hermione to be with Draco. Two months and now Draco wanted to throw the television set out the window so he didn't have to hear another stupid Valentine's Day commercial.

"Oi, Mate. You look positively livid. You alright?" Blaise's voice interrupted Draco's fury. He looked over, and took a deep breath.

"No, I'm not alright. These stupid commercials keep reminding me of how pathetically alone I am. And of course, I keep imagining Longbottom doing something like this for Hermione." Draco said with utter distaste. Blaise had been fully aware of Draco's attraction towards the witch and had also been informed on that strange night a month and a half before.

Blaise had of course thought Draco was stupid for not whisking her away the moment he had her alone. "You've loved her since the beginning, you finally manage to have her in your arms, even if just to make another guy jealous, and you didn't get away from there? ARE YOU BLEEDING MAD?" Blaise had yelled the moment Draco had told him everything.

"Draco, you have got to make your feelings known to her. You have to tell her, at least she'll have fair warning of your advances. And with me and the Weasley girl helping you, Granger doesn't stand a chance." Blaise said, switching the television to something completely different. He too was tired of watching those stupid jewelry commercials.

"I know this but, she's with Longbottom. Who would have thought puberty would have taken pity on the poor lump?" Draco said angrily, crossing his arms over his chest. He remembered the poor kid had been extremely unattractive during the first few years of Hogwarts. But now he was the hottest wizard around, and Draco had lost many girls to his good looks. Draco had been upset at first with it, but now he was angry and vengeful. He wanted to steal Hermione away from him, and steal her good. But Ginny and Blaise hadn't come up with anything too good.

He still saw her everyday at work, and she would constantly thank Draco for getting her and Neville together. It was infuriating. Draco angrily turned off the television, unsure of the reason why he had bought one in the first place. Oh, that's right, Hermione had been ranting about a tv series and Draco, wanting to have something in common with her, bought a television and starting watching the show. He of course really liked the show and still watched it, and occasionally would talk with Hermione about it. She always seemed to enjoy those conversations.

Blaise was upset that him and Ginny had been unable to come up with a way to get those two together. But even from across the club he could tell that Hermione and Draco had some amazing chemistry. Why Hermione hadn't felt it was beyond Blaise, but he was determined to get the two together.

Draco was sitting moodily on his couch, grumbling to himself about the pathetic holiday that was approaching. Blaise smirked and decided it would be a perfect day to ruin relationships and create new ones. Blaise muttered a quick goodbye to Draco and headed off. He had some things to discuss with the fiery red head.

Ginny and Blaise's plan wasn't necessarily the best. But it was at the same time. It was a simple plan, and could easily be manufactured. However, pulling it off in the right way was going to be hard. At school, it would have been the easiest thing in the world. But now it was a bit more complicated. But Blaise and Ginny were working out the kinks and were positive it was going to work.

The only problem, was convincing Draco he had to do it.

They had planned out the party perfectly. Someone Ginny had convinced the Minister that having a Masquerade at the Ministry would actually be a perfect way to promote friendship in the work place. Blaise wasn't sure how Ginny did it, but it worked. The party was slated for Valentine's Day. People could show up and leave when they wanted to.

Blaise sat down beside Draco a few nights before, already positive he was going, and explained the whole plan to him. The Masquerade had been his idea. But Ginny was the one who made all the details absolutely perfect. He had to just tell Hermione he loved her, just get it over with. The next part was hard, because none of them could control what Hermione would do.

She could ignore Draco for as long as they lived. She could hate him completely. Or she could fall in love with him.

Draco wanted to tell her, he really did, but he was scared of rejection. Who wasn't? But for Draco, it was harder. Not many girls rejected him, but when they did, he usually took it hard. Kind of hard. He never took it hard at all. But this was Hermione Granger. He had had a crush on this girl for years. And now he had to tell her he loved her. Blaise knew this was going to be hard.

On both of them. He knew Ginny was preparing Hermione, kind of praising Draco and all. But he really hoped this would work. He wanted to see his best friend with the right girl.

Draco strapped his mask on before walking towards the party. He wanted to get this over with. As he walked into the party, he nearly puked at all the terrible decorations. So many hearts and valentine related things. Had it not been for Blaise seeing him and closing in on him, Draco would have left as soon as he entered. He pointed in the direction of Hermione, and Draco decided to get it over with.

Better now than never.

"Wanna dance?" He asked in a husky voice, she turned around, smiled and nodded. So she wasn't too hung up on Longbottom, good. Draco started dancing with her, glad that they weren't the only ones. But it was just like it had been near Christmas time. The chemistry between them crackled like lightening in the air, the passion flowing through their connected bodies.

And Hermione immediately knew who it was. She remembered that night at the club, wondering why it hadn't felt like that when she had danced with Neville. But now she knew, it was because Neville wasn't him. There was just something between them that made it different. That made it right.

She wasn't going to let him know it was her. There was no way that he would like her. He probably thought she was some one else. But suddenly he turned her around, his grey eyes looking at her.

"I love you, Hermione. I have for some time now and I apologize for not telling you earlier. I love you so much I've changed my entire life for you. But you would never know. That's why I danced with you two months ago. I wanted you to be happy, even if I wasn't. I came here, just to let you know." Draco ran from the room, scared of what she would say. He didn't want to hear her reaction. He didn't think he could take her hating him.

* * *

The next few days were a blur. Draco quit his job. He wasn't going to deal with this. So he decided to run. He made it to Italy.

He was drinking, again, in a bar late at night. He shot back a glass of whiskey, then vodka, then bourbon. Hoping to forget what he had done just a few days ago. He barely noticed the hand on his shoulder.

"Hello, there." Draco turned around prepared to blow off another beautiful Italian woman. He actually had a nice spiel about how he was a gay man looking for the love of his life in Italy, when he saw her. Those gorgeous hazel eyes, the smooth creamy skin, and that all knowing smile.

"W-What are you doing here?" Draco spluttered, his eyes widened with shock.

"Reconnecting with the love of my life." Hermione said smiling at him. Draco closed his eyes, and shot back another drink.

"Right, then I'll leave you to it." He said, getting up to leave. He didn't want to be here, when he arrived.

"Where are you going?"

"Away from your reunion. I don't think I could take watching you fall in love with another guy."

"Too bad, cause it's already started." That made Draco stop for a minute, but he kept going. He loved her too much to stay near her for long.

"Draco Abraxas Malfoy where do you think you're going?" Hermione called, running after him.

"Hermione, I love you too much to watch you be with another man. I can barely stand to be near you because I love you so much. I just want to hold you in my arms, every time you're near me. And I can't do a damned thing about it." Draco said, finally turning around to look at her.

She walked forward, closing the space between them. She wiped away the lone tear on his cheek.

"Perfect. Because I don't plan on falling in love with anyone but you."


End file.
